by
Greek Giant
Well, it’s not exactly the signing of Kyle Tucker but it is a new Giants acquisition!
MLB.com is reporting that the Giants have signed former Guardians left-handed reliever, Matt Hentges by agreeing to a one-year, $1.4 million contract. Hentges is 29, and recovering from a series of injuries including a right knee surgery and left shoulder surgery. In four seasons with the Clevelanders his 4.18 ERA was accumulated out of the bulllpen. The Lefty missed the entire 2025 season while recovering from left shoulder surgery. He also underwent arthroscopic right knee surgery in September and is, in theory still rehabilitating that knee since the timeline for recovery is four or five months, depending on the patient.
Hentges became a free agent when he was non-tendered by the Guardians on November 21 of this year. His best season came in 2022, when he recorded a 2.32 ERA with 72 strikeouts over 62 innings in 57 relief outings for the Guardians. For Giants fans the big question is this: Is Hentges an upgrade over Joey Lucchesi, who the Giants released a few weeks back?
The Lucchesi Non-Tendering was a surprise considering the relatively decent season the left-handed reliever had. It could be Buster Posey and the Giants have some issues with Lucchese’s health or attitude that we do not know about. We only get the public version of events but Lucchesi recorded a 3.78 ERA in 38 appearances last season, all of which came in relief. Hentges will be under team control through 2027.
Assuming he’s healthy, Hentges should join Erik Miller, Matt Gage and recently claimed Reiver Sanmartin as lefty options in the Giants’ bullpen next year. One should assume that the Giants will play around with roster moves and keep only two lefties in the bullpen on the 25-man roster during the season. I don’t see three left-handed arms making the Big League club because they are used too in-frequently to use up the precious roster space.
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