San Francisco Giants: Sam Dyson starting to look like his old self
By Keaton Moore
Despite a horrendous start to the year, Sam Dyson is starting to turn his season around for the San Francisco Giants.
Without a doubt, the 2017 version of Sam Dyson is nearly the polar opposite of the pitcher he was last year. Assuming the role of closer for the Texas Rangers, Dyson put up a 2.43 ERA and finished third in the American League with 38 saves.
Yet memories of his dominance the year before were washed away by his disastrous start this season. Failing to record a save, Dyson left the Rangers with a 1-6 record, 10.80 ERA and four blown saves.
How’s that for a depressing stat line? Here’s another:
In recent years the Giants bullpen is one that is comically terrible everywhere but San Francisco. Their late-inning struggles became blaringly clear last year when they blew the most saves in the major leagues (30).
So when the Giants traded for Dyson and his swollen ERA in early June, many fans – including myself – thought: “Oh great, another guy to blow our games” , or “This is how it gets worse.”
Not so bad
However, following a rocky inaugural appearance, Dyson is starting to look more like the pitcher he was last season. His ERA is down to single digits with a string of appearances against the Kansas City Royals and Colorado Rockies.
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With another 2.1 scoreless innings pitched during the team’s series against the Atlanta Braves, Dyson’s ERA as a Giant is 4.15 and on the season is shrunk to 9.43. Needless to say, the Giants are more than happy to see Dyson succeed in their uniform.
"“We know there’s success there and it took him awhile to get to that point in Texas,” pitching coach Dave Righetti said (per mercurynews.com). “It also must’ve gotten away from him quick, because he had a heck of a World Baseball Classic (in March). We’ll try to build on anything we can to get the best out of him.”"