SAN FRANCISCO -- "I think our bullpen is nasty. I think we're the best bullpen in the league."
Yes. And no.
That quote came from starting pitcher Jordan Hicks after the Giants' 5-3 extra-innings loss to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday at Oracle Park.
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While San Francisco's bullpen possesses some of the most durable and lethal MLB relievers with the potential to be one of the league's best units, the entire pitching staff's dysfunction right now has prevented the Giants' bullpen from providing the consistency and stability the team needs.
Hicks pitched five strong innings on Thursday before giving gave way to the bullpen in the sixth with the score tied 3-3. Spencer Bivens, Erik Miller, Ryan Walker and Sean Hjelle did their jobs, shutting down the Cubs' offense and giving the Giants a chance to secure another come-from-behind win.
Until right-handed pitcher Luke Jackson entered in the top of the 10th inning and surrendered a two-run go-ahead home run to Ian Happ that gave Chicago a 5-3 lead in extras.
Jackson has struggled mightily all season long. In 28 appearances, the veteran reliever has a 6.23 ERA in 26 total innings. He has pitched better lately and certainly has moments where he looks like the reliever the Giants hoped he would be when he signed a two-year, $11.5 million contract before the 2023 season, but there have been far too many outings that hurt San Francisco.
San Francisco Giants
So why was he in the game?
Giants manager Bob Melvin went to Jackson in the 10th because closer Camilo Doval and reliable right-handed reliever Tyler Rogers were unavailable after both pitched in each of the last two games.
"He (Jackson) pitched well yesterday. But we were using everybody every day and it was one pitch today," Melvin said postgame. "I thought he threw the ball better yesterday and I thought he threw the ball good again today except for one pitch that ends up being a homer.
"We're trying to keep guys away from three in a row. I know it's limited pitches, but [Doval] throws really hard too and the only time we're going to use him three in a row would have been in a save situation today."
Would Jackson have pitched in a normal game with a bullpen that hasn't thrown an alarming amount of innings this season? No. Melvin's decision to go with Jackson is a symptom of a larger issue the Giants are wrestling with.
San Francisco's bullpen has pitched a league-high 338 2/3 innings this season due to Giants starting pitchers throwing more than five innings just 46 times this season, the fewest among MLB pitching staffs.
The Giants also used five-plus pitchers in Thursday's game for the 38th time this season, the third-highest mark behind only the Cleveland Guardians (42 times) and Miami Marlins (39 times)
Simply put, the Giants bullpen has been overworked all season. It's caught up with them, which puts Melvin in a difficult situation to make in-game decisions with the next day's game at the forefront of his mind.
"We're trying to -- depending on where we are in the game -- trying to keep guys available, keep guys available for the next day," Melvin explained. "Have length one day, have some length the next day. Other than [Logan Webb] we're getting some short starts right now. So it's a little bit of a mix-and-match every day to make sure you have enough guys to cover nine innings."
However, when things do return to normal for the Giants pitching staff, there actually is some credence to Hicks' claim. San Francisco's bullpen boasts four relievers -- Walker, Hjelle and both Rogers brothers -- with ERAs under 3.00. Doval, when he's on, is one of the most electric closers in the game. Randy Rodriguez has had his stretches of dominance and bulk-inning arms Bivens and Spencer Howard have impressed early on.
Walker and Tyler Rogers, however, have been godsends for Melvin this season.
"It's All-Star quality if you take into consideration how much they've had to pitch, both of them," Melvin said of Walker and Rogers' seasons. "[Erik] Miller has pitched a lot too and I think he's one or two appearances behind them. Really over the course of the season, it's unsustainable to continue to pitch them at this rate. So there's going to be times where we're going to have to break them up a little bit."
The Giants' bullpen has a ton of potential. If starting pitchers Blake Snell, Robbie Ray, Alex Cobb and Kyle Harrison can get healthy and the staff as a whole can consistently pitch deep into games, Melvin will love his options late in games.
Until then, the bullpen will remain a bit of a jumbled mess with far too many all-hands-on-deck situations.