Spring Training Update: ....And Down In the Bullpen...

The Big Four are now ancient history.  Last year's Closer, Will Smith?  He's making big money with the Braves.  Bruce Bochy had a knack for building bullpens, bringing order to chaos, putting arms in situations where they could succeed.  Bullpen use was perceived to be Gabe Kapler's biggest weakness when he managed in Philadelphia.  Spring training 2020 is a casting call which brings in a stampede of arms who all have some promise, but inconsistent track records.  Again, Gabe Kapler's biggest challenge may be to put together a functional bullpen.  He's known to be not a big fan of designated Closers and has already said he may not have one when he opens the season.  Bullpen by committee or matchups seems like a great idea on paper, but where has it ever worked?  Let's break it down(I'm not going to try to list every current bullpen option):

Tony Watson(L):  The grizzled veteran of the bunch, but a wide margin.  Has Closer experience.  He's the obvious choice but after a strong start last year, he blew up to a 5.59 ERA in the second half and it's not clear he has Closer stuff at this point in his career.

Trevor Gott(R):  Solid innings eating reliever last year. Vultured 7 Wins in the process.  Has Closer quality stuff when fully healthy but hit the IL twice with forearm and elbow issues last year.  Had groin surgery in September.  Seems fully healthy from reports and the Giants seem high on him.  Also reportedly working on getting more sweep to his breaking ball.  Not sure how much the Giants want to count on a pitcher with that kind of injury history.

Tyler Rogers(R):  We wrote him up in the Top 50 Prospects list.  Was very effective last year with extremely unorthodox delivery.  Could be high leverage 7'th or 8'th inning guy or multi-inning role.  Could even be the Closer.  Reports of befuddled batters from live BP.

Jarlin Garcia(L):  Late pickup in the Hot Stove season.  Deceptively good stuff.  Potential multi-inning lefty reliever.  Strong bet to be on the Opening Day roster.

Jandel Gustave(R):  Electric stuff.  Inconsistent performances.  Could be Closer.  Could be...Churned.

Reyes Moronta(R):  Breakout season last year.  Reportedly making rapid progress in rehab from horrific shoulder injury and surgery.  Gotta think he starts the season on the IL, though.

Enderson Franco(R):  Didn't find much traction as a SP with Sacramento last year, but FB took a jump when he moved to bullpen.  Now high 90's.  Impressed late last season but in extremely small sample of 5.1 IP.

Dany Jimenez(R):  Rule 5 picks are always going to get long looks but seldom end up sticking.  Jimenez has electric stuff and was lights out in AA last year.  Big time opportunity here in a very unsettled bullpen situation.

Wandy Peralta(L):  Intriguing stuff, but probably more of a LOOGY type.  Has averaged quite a bit less than 1 inning per appearance.  New rules may be added challenge.

Sam Selman(L):  Strong 2019 season in AA/AAA.  Mixed MLB results in SSS.  Marginal stuff.

Nick Vincent(R):  Gets the most out of marginal stuff.  Actually pitched mostly well last year except for a handful of disaster appearances.  Pitched for Gabe Kapler in Philly late last season to a 1.93 ERA.

Jerry Blevins(L):  Veteran lefty.  Seems like more of a LOOGY type.  How does that translate in the 3-batter minimum era?

Trey McNutt(R):  Grade 70 name.  Hard throwing minor league journeyman.  Driveline graduate.  Sleeper.

Sam Moll(L):  Acquired in minor league phase of last year's Rule 5 draft.  Worked on his stuff with pitching coaches and pitched very well in AA/AAA.  Likely starts 2020 in AAA but with strong chance of MLB call up at some point.

Putting It All Together:

Giants, and most teams, will likely carry the maximum 13 pitchers with 8 bullpen jobs.  I've got Tony Watson, Trevor Gott, Jarlin Garcia and Tyler Rogers as the top 4.  1 or 2 of the SP candidates will likely fill long relief/swingman roles with Trevor Cahill being most likely.  That leaves 2-3 openings for everybody else to fight over, although even the top 4 are far from locks.