Giants think lefthanded relievers are right for job
McGee and Peralta among keys to bullpen
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Giants already were lefty happy in the bullpen last year, and they’re trending even further left.
“I was joking around that we have to break it up: We have so many lefties we can do two different fields with just lefties and righties,” lefty Jake McGee said.
The team could carry as many as five lefthanded relievers, given that projected closer McGee and recent addition José Álvarez throw from that side and so, too, do some of the candidates for long relief, such as nonroster invitees Scott Kazmir and Sam Long. Returning lefties include Caleb Baragar, Wandy Peralta and Jarlín García, who is out of options.
How many is too many, especially with the threebatter minimum? The short answer is: If the Giants’ lefties can get righthanded batters out at close to the same clip they do
lefthanded batters, it won’t matter at all.
“I actually like it a lot,” one National League West scout said. “Most of the best hitters in the game are lefthanded. If you have the weapons to face the heart of the opposing lineup, your best option is a lefthander and you have several to choose from, that’s an advantage in my mind.”
In decades past, most teams carried a lefty specialist or two — and some teams, including some good Angels squads, had zero lefthanded relievers. Lefty closers were something of an anomaly, too, often former starters with the repertoire to face all hitters — in 1991, the Giants, notably, had Dave Righetti, who was a starter his first three years with the Yankees.
“Generally, the lefties were exstarters who could go out and change speeds and bounce back fast and be ready to pitch every day,” Righetti said.
Other prominent lefty closers included Sparky Lyle, John Franco, Billy Wagner, Randy Myers, Mitch Williams, Eddie Guardado and Dan Plesac, but they were anything but the norm.
“It was because ‘That’s how it’s always been done — lefties don’t close,’ ” former Giants lefthander Jeremy Affeldt said. “Why not? If they have the stuff to close, let them close! But back then, lefthanders didn’t always have the power or stuff the righthanders did. If you can mentally handle it, and you can throw strikes, man, I don’t care who you are, just get it done.
“But a lot of teams couldn’t do that with their lefthanders — because they didn’t carry enough of them and had to use the ones they had for specific matchups.”
That’s a strong argument for multiple lefties on the roster, and lefthanded closers are far more common in the modern game. In fact, the mostdecorated closers in the majors are Aroldis Chapman and Josh Hader. Other lefties who serve primarily as closers: Zack Britton, Brad Hand and former A’s reliever Sean Doolittle and former Giants reliever Will Smith.
Now, add McGee to that bunch. Even if the Giants don’t put a label on him, he’ll get the ninth inning more often than not, with Tyler Rogers also in the mix.
“I’m a little different than some lefties because I have better splits against righthitters,” McGee said. “And then with me working on my slider this spring, I’m going be able to use it a lot more against lefties, so I feel like I can take a step forward from last year.”
That would be impressive considering McGee struck out 33 and walked just three in 201⁄3 innings, putting up a 2.66 ERA in a setup role for the Dodgers last year. He’s not joking about the reverse splits, though: Lefties hit .304 off him, righthanded hitters .135. Lifetime, the difference is less exaggerated: Righthanders have a .222 mark off him, lefties .248.
Righetti recommends what was the norm in his day: Using a lefty closer and a righthanded closer or two, noting that the Reds’ Nasty Boys — with Myers, Rob Dibble, lefty Norm Charlton — were a perfect example.
“If you don’t have a right hander who can do it, that’s generally why they go with the lefty, but you’d rather have a combination,” Righetti said. “Even when I was at my best, I shared the job with a righthander getting 10 to 15 saves alongside of me. Very rarely do lefties keep that job by themselves.”
The Giants showed no hesitation using multiple lefthanders out of the bullpen last year. On Aug. 25, they used five in one game, and on three other occasions, they used four.
Why is the team stockpiling so many lefthanders? The Giants added even another last week, snaring Phil Pfeifer off waivers. Versatile position players and lefty relievers are all the rage for the Giants, it seems. Some of that is roster flexibility — adding nonroster players, many of whom don’t have optout clauses, is an easy way to provide depth.
“Let’s be honest, that’s the way Farhan Zaidi runs things,” Affeldt said of the Giants’ president of baseball operations. “He runs a freaking option thing like a dadgum spin wheel — he likes moving guys, in, out, in, out, in, out. He could switch it all up in May.”
Another consideration: The Giants don’t have a lot of starting pitching depth. There could be bullpen days or even openers employed, given a need. Plus, the more lefties the team stashes away, the fewer there are for their opponents.
“That’s not a bad idea,” said Righetti, who will be volunteering as a coach when minorleague camp opens next month. “I think most of them are talented; I like the lefties here. They all are different. They’ve all got good arms, they have movement on their pitches and they’re not cookiecutter and most of them have some experience.
“There are a lot of moving parts and we’ll see how it all shakes out, but if a lot of these guys can get the job done, it’s a nobrainer.”