San Francisco Giants rookie right handed pitcher Joel Peguero is having a fantastic start to his MLB career.
In 8 games, Peguero has pitched 12.1 innings and allowed only 7 hits and no runs, striking out 11 batters.
He’s also a flamethrower with incredible breaking pitches. In his outing on Tuesday September 9, 2025, Peguero threw 10 pitches over 100 miles an hour, topping out at 101.3 miles per hour. He also had the top 5 fastest pitches in all of baseball on Tuesday.
The Giants, who are making a run at the playoffs, should consider making Peguero their closer.
Who Do The Giants Have Closing Games Right Now?
The Giants have gone through 3 different closers already this season, and they are running out of options at the position. They traded away Camilo Doval to the New York Yankees, and Randy Rodriguez is injured and set to undergo Tommy John surgery.
They are left with Ryan Walker as their closer. Walker has honestly had a solid season, with a 3.86 ERA in 61 games, especially after a poor start that saw him get removed from the closer role.
But Walker has blown 6 saves this season, and he just blew a game on Saturday September 6, 2025 against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Giants entered the bottom of the ninth winning 2-0 and Walker allowed 3 runs without recording an out.
Even Walker’s most recent save wasn’t the most confidence-inducing. He picked up his 15th save of the season in a 5-3 Giants win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday September 9, 2025. But he allowed a single and a walk to put runners on first and second base with no outs before recording the 3 outs to escape with a Giants win.
Given that the Giants are trying to make an improbable run at the playoffs, they have no room for losing games, especially games that their offense and starting pitching put them in position to win.
Peguero has been dominating at the big league level, and he clearly has the stuff to develop into a great MLB closer. Rodriguez won’t be back on the mound next year, either. For 2025 and 2026, the Giants’ best option is to see if Peguero can be a reliable closer.
Peguero Talked About What Fuels His Success
Sergio Romo, George Kontos and Bonta Hill interviewed Joel Peguero on NBC Sports Bay Area’s Giants Postgame live show after his most recent shutdown performance.
Peguero talked about what has fueled his instant big league success.
“What it is is that I have more trust in myself,” Peguero said. “I have faith. I have been able to work on that, I trust myself when I go out there. All the years in the minor leagues taught me to be able to trust myself, trust my stuff and attack the zone now that I’m up here.”
Peguero has been in the minor leagues awaiting his big league chance since 2016. The Giants signed him to a minor league contract ahead of the 2025 season and he immediately impressed, winning the Barney Nugent award for best newcomer in Spring Training.
Remember, the Giants had the best Spring Training record in all of baseball at 21-6. So lots of guys had a great spring.
Bob Melvin praised Joel Peguero for his game-changing impact out of the bullpen
If confidence is truly fueling Peguero’s success, it would be the ultimate boost of confidence if the Giants entrusted him with the closer role.
But what do you think, Giants fans? Should San Francisco make Joel Peguero the closer?
The San Francisco Giants Should Make This Star Rookie Their Closer