SF Giants release reliever Dominic Leone

SF Giants reliever Dominic Leone has struggled this season, and the team unconditionally released him on Saturday.

Marc Delucchi | Sep 10, 2022

SF Giants release reliever Dominic Leone /

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San Francisco Giants

The SF Giants have unconditionally released right-handed pitcher Dominic Leone. Leone had been placed on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation on Friday, but less than 24 hours later the Giants made him a free agent. The move opens up a spot on the 40-man roster, and after Austin Wynns was hit on the head during Friday's game, it could be a necessary move to add Wynns' replacement to the 40-man roster.

The Giants originally signed Leone as a minor-league free agent prior to last season. Leone was a standout during spring training and quickly earned a spot on the big-league roster after just seven Triple-A appearances.

Leone was fantastic in 2021. He made 57 appearances out of the Giants bullpen for manager Gabe Kapler and recorded a 1.51 ERA with 50 strikeouts in 53.2 innings pitched. ERA estimators were more skeptical of Leone's overall performance but still viewed him as a solid bullpen option (3.39 xERA, 3.08 FIP, 4.37 xFIP).

SF Giants pitched Dominic Leone throws a pitch against the Diamondbacks. (2022) — D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports

This season, however, Leone's overall numbers are far closer to his ERA estimators. In 55 appearances, Leone has a 4.01 ERA (3.71 xERA, 4.04 FIP, and 4.11 xFIP) with 52 strikeouts across 49.1 innings. While those numbers are fine for a middle reliever, they undersell how much Leone has struggled over the past couple of months. Since July 21st, Leone has a 5.40 ERA in 17 appearances with an alarming 12 walks in 16.2 innings pitched. Opponents are crushing him over that span for a .303/.405/.546 triple-slash.

Over his nine-year MLB career, Leone has been a solid, but erratic middle reliever. He has a career 3.69 ERA in 353 appearances with 373 strikeouts and 150 walks in 356 innings pitched between stints with the Giants, Guardians, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, and Mariners.

Leone and the Giants agreed to a one-year, $2.25 million contract last offseason to avoid arbitration, but the veteran reliever was already slated to become a free-agent this winter. It seems likely that the SF Giants had already decided that Dominic Leone was not going to be in their plans for 2023. With a possible need on the 40-man roster, the front office opted to put Leone on the open market a bit early.

Published Sep 10, 2022

MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).