As the 2026 season comes to a close, it’s time to reflect on how each of our favorite players performed. One player who had a particularly intriguing season to watch was San Francisco Giants’ rookie reliever Dylan Smith. It’s not easy to be consistent or even find much success at all as a rookie reliever. And just like most players, Smith has had his ups and downs. But overall, it certainly felt like the young right-hander kicked his career off with a pretty good start.
Rookie Right-Hander Dylan Smith Has Been a Bright Spot in Giants’ Bullpen
Smith came out of the Giants bullpen for all 42 games he played in, and the team even trusted him enough to close. In that role, Smith recorded 15 games finished and four saves. It’s a big deal for a manager to be willing to put a rookie reliever in the closer role, even if it is in limited outings.
As mlbbro.com’s Howard Woodard put it, “In a disappointing season for the Francisco Giants their bullpen has been one of the main culprits.”
Smith gave the Giants stability in a year they brought in a new manager without prior MLB experience, dealt with a ton of injuries, and were constantly calling up and calling down minor leaguers.
Smith threw 39.2 innings while only giving up 0.7 home runs per 9 innings and striking out 10.2 batters per 9 innings, with a 105 ERA+, all of which are above league average. Smith’s 3.6 FIP compared to his 3.8 ERA suggests he got slightly unlucky and is more than capable of lowering his ERA in the future. Although a 3.8 ERA is still very respectable for a rookie. Smith’s walk rate and WHIP tell us that he needs to improve with allowing baserunners. His 1.4 WHIP is worse than the average 1.2 WHIP as well as his 7.9 hits per 9 innings, and his 5 batters walked per 9 innings.
“The next step for Smith is having better command,” said Woodard of mlbbro.com.
If Smith can find a way to allow less base runners, he’ll give up less runs and take pressure off of himself.
Pitcher Dylan Smith Is Trying To Avoid ‘The Shuttle’ & Find A Home In San Francisco
For example, in one of his last appearances of the season in a September game versus the Cardinals, Smith gave up 2 hits and 2 walks which ultimately allowed for 2 runs to score in just 0.2 innings of work. In contrast to that, he allowed no walks and no hits while striking out a batter and giving up 0 runs in 1 inning of work just nine days later. Smith allowed 0 runs in his last two appearances of the season.
It was a promising start for a young reliever who has much to look forward to and a lot to work on. Smith is certainly a Major League level player and has what it takes to turn in an even performance in 2027 as he is more than capable of being a strong piece to San Francisco’s bullpen for the foreseeable future.
