2025 Depth Charts: Relievers

Release the hordes!

Photo Credit: Mick Anders | Richmond Flying Squirrels

So far in this year’s Depth Charts series, we’ve looked at:

• Shortstop

• First Base

• Left-Handed Starters

• Center Field

• Catcher

• Third Base

• Right-Handed Starters

• Corner Outfielders

• Second Base

The lightning round is here! It’s time for the relievers.

There a million of these guys — give or take a few hundred thousand — and more will be arriving as we cruise into “pitchers and catchers are reporting.” The gradations get much smaller with this group as well. Just about every last one of them slots somewhere between a 35 and a 40, and with all of them, one weird trick suddenly makes all the difference in the world between a big league career and a guy who just keeps punching.

“Whoa! Ryan Walker throws 97 now?? Cooooooool!” “Hey! Is that Randy Rodriguez over on field 2 pounding the strike zone? Zowie!”

It can happen just that fast. Justin Verlander said at his introductory presser that you can’t be a big leaguer if you can’t continually learn from failure and apply those lessons and keep adapting. That’s a hugely underrated part of the development process, and it’s as true for Ryan Walker and Camilo Doval as it is for Tyler Vogel or Alix Hernandez. Everybody in today’s post has a path to success…. if they can find it. Remember that Doval was originally signed with a fastball in the 80s, and Walker was scraping the low 90s with his sinker as a 30-somethingeth round pick. Things change!

So today we’ll try to speed through the grades, acquaint you with the important names, the maybe important names, and the “just in case” names….all full in the knowledge that come March, I may report to Papago and realize that somebody’s picked up that one weird trick and I need to massively upgrade things — just as I did last March with Trent Harris.

Lastly before we jump in, a fond There R Giants’ farewell to William Kempner, who was traded to Miami for additional international pool money on Wednesday. Kempner has a big league arm, and I’ll miss his thoughtful and gregarious presence, as you can see in this interview. Good luck, Kemp!

Life comes at you fast. Get ready for the hordes as we take on the bullpen in our final Depth Chart of the year.