SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Joel Peguero needed just one bullpen session to become the talk of camp.
No one, manager Bob Melvin included, could overlook the right-hander who was hitting 101 mph in mid-February. A month after that first look, Peguero has pitched himself into the conversation for a spot on the Giants’ Opening Day roster. Regardless of whether the 27-year-old finally gets his first shot in the majors, he’ll leave camp having made an impression throughout the organization. He has the hardware to prove it, too.
The Giants announced on Wednesday afternoon that Peguero was the winner of the 2025 Barney Nugent Award, an annual honor that goes to the player in his first big league camp “whose performance and dedication in Spring Training best exemplifies the San Francisco Giants spirit.”
“It’s a great feeling,” Peguero said through team interpreter Erwin Higueros. “Winning this award, especially my first (year) in the organization, makes me feel very proud.”
Peguero, the first Giants pitcher to win the award since right-hander Dan Otero, was one of four candidates up for the honor, a list that also included top prospect Bryce Eldridge and right-handers Carson Ragsdale and Juan Mercedes. Following that first bullpen, Peguero has continued to impress by 6 2/3 scoreless innings of relief with eight strikeouts to one walk, consistently hitting 100 and 101 mph on the radar gun.
“God gave me the blessing of being able to throw hard, but it seems like here, in this camp, I’ve been a little bit more consistent,” Peguero said.
“He came into camp and has been the talk of the camp the minute he got here with his bullpens,” Melvin said. “He followed it up in games. Pitched back-to-back last night. Kept his stuff, kept his velo on back-to-back days. It’s been really good, and he’s been very well embraced in the clubhouse.”
Peguero signed with the Tampa Bay Rays in August 2015 as an international free agent but has yet to pitch in the majors, spending time in the minor league systems of the Rays, Colorado Rockies, Washington Nationals and Detroit Tigers. He signed a minor-league deal with the Giants with an invitation to spring training as a non-roster invitee, and performance this spring has him knocking on the door of San Francisco.
The Giants have yet to finalize their Opening Day bullpen, and as things stand, the first six spots will likely go to Ryan Walker, Tyler Rogers, Camilo Doval, Erik Miller, Randy Rodríguez and Sean Hjelle. Lou Trivino, a non-roster invitee, and Landen Roupp, who’s competing for the fifth rotation spot, are strong possibilities to round out the bullpen; Peguero and fellow non-roster invitee Joey Lucchesi remain firmly in the mix as well.
While Peguero isn’t a heavy favorite to make the team out of camp, Melvin said the Giants “certainly not ruling him out.”
“We’ll see where it goes from here,” Melvin said. “We have some other guys pitching well, too, so we’ll see where it goes, but it’s nice to add a name — especially with what he features on the mound — to the mix. That’s a credit to him for not only opening some eyes, but continuing to do it.”
Peguero has pitched as high as Triple-A for multiple teams but is still awaiting his first call to the majors. He’s got eight seasons in the minors under his belt and is potentially going on nine, but he has faith that this season could be the season.
“I’ve been very close,” Peguero said. “I think this year, with what I’ve been doing, the attention that I’m getting and how I feel, I think that maybe with God’s blessing, maybe this will be the year I can make my debut.”
Birdsong, Roupp, Harrison to pitch in Sacramento
Hayden Birdsong, Landen Roupp and Kyle Harrison, all of whom are vying for the fifth spot in the Giants’ rotation, will pitch in Sunday’s exhibition against the Sacramento River Cats. Two of those three will start — one for San Francisco, one for Sacramento — while the third pitcher will piggyback in relief. Melvin said to not read into who starts for Sacramento versus who starts for San Francisco.
“It’s been kind of cool to follow,” Melvin said. “Like I said, (Harrison) is probably a little bit farther behind as far as his progression, but Roupp and Birdsong have really been fantastic.”
Melvin added that two of those three could make the team out of camp — one as a starter, one as a reliever. Birdsong, who has a 0.75 ERA this spring, is the likelier candidate to make the team as a starter, leaving Roupp as the relief option.
Source: Paradise Post
