San Francisco Giants Demote Pitcher Despite Excellent Recent Performances

On Monday August 18, 2025, the San Francisco Giants sent right-handed pitcher Keaton Winn to AAA Sacramento. Winn was optioned because the Giants are activating RHP Ryan Walker from the paternity list. 

Winn, 27, was excellent in his two appearances since the Giants called him up on Friday August 15, 2025. Winn threw 2 clean innings and surrendered only 1 hit and 1 walk, striking out two. 

It was Winn’s first tenure with the Giants since June 20, 2024. He has struggled in the minor leagues this season, recording an unsightly 8.49 ERA in 15 appearances. 

Following the departure of several pitchers this season, the Giants are in the process of determining what their 2026 rotation and bullpen will look like. 

Winn Still May Have Saved His Career

Once upon a time, Keaton Winn looked like a future ace for the Giants. 

Following a decent first impression in 2023, Winn opened the 2024 season in the Giants rotation and dominated. 

In April 2024, Winn pitched to a 3.18 ERA, but even that doesn’t tell the full story. In his last three outings of April 2024, all starts, he had a measly 1.50 ERA in 18 innings. He went 6 innings while allowing only 1 run in each of those games. The Giants won all three games. 

But in May and June, Winn struggled mightily while also dealing with injuries in his right forearm and elbow. From June 21 on, Winn spent the rest of 2024 on the injured list. 

He lost his rotation spot to Landen Roupp, and hasn’t given the Giants any reason to call him up in 2025. But with two good outings in the big leagues, Winn has every reason to treat this most recent tenure with San Francisco like a reset button. 

Now, Winn can relax and forget all of his 2024 and 2025 struggles. He can be confident in his ability to get big league hitters out. 

And the Giants won’t forget what they’ve seen from him, either. With an uncertain bullpen and a rotation that severely lacks depth, Winn has plenty of opportunity to contribute to the Giants in 2026. 

Why Didn’t the Giants Send A Struggling Pitcher Down? 

With some bullpen struggles from the Orange and Black in recent weeks, many Giants fans are wondering why the team didn’t keep Winn in San Francisco. 

Especially since there are a few pitchers who could obviously use a reset in AAA.

Tristan Beck hasn’t been good for the Giants out of the bullpen this season, with a 5.29 ERA in 20 appearances. Neither has Carson Seymour, who has a 4.08 ERA in 8 appearances. 

Heck, the Giants could have even given Winn a shot in the rotation and sent down Kai-Wei Teng. They seem to be letting several pitchers get a crack at that recently. 

But ultimately, Winn should feel better about how he appeared in his two bullpen outings while he was in San Francisco than feel bad that he was sent back down. It’s hard to make a better impression in just three days in the big leagues than Winn did. 

Giants fans, do you think Keaton Winn has a future spot on the Giants pitching staff? 

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