Two weeks after stepping away from a team that’s had a tougher season than any other in MLB history, Scott Alexander is charting a new course with a familiar destination. The former Dodgers relief pitcher has inked a minor league deal with the San Francisco Giants. It’s a move that brings him back to the Bay Area, where he previously took the mound for the Giants from 2022 to 2023, following his pivotal role in the Dodgers’ World Series triumph a couple of years prior.
Alexander, now 35, found himself with an unwelcome stat line of 6.06 ERA across 19 relief appearances for the Colorado Rockies when they decided to release him in late May. The Rockies, sporting a dismal 12-54 record, are not only at the bottom of the standings but also en route to setting a new benchmark for season losses in MLB history. Now free of Denver’s struggles, Alexander is returning home to Northern California on a minor league contract, keen on lengthening a major league journey that began back in 2015 with the Kansas City Royals.
Drafted by the Royals out of Sonoma State in 2010’s sixth MLB draft round, Alexander made his big league debut five years later. He turned heads with a dependable 2.78 ERA out of the bullpen across three seasons in Kansas City, amassing 79 regular-season outings. Though eligible for a ring from the Royals’ 2015 World Series win, Alexander didn’t see postseason action until he was traded to Los Angeles in January 2018 as part of a three-team, six-player deal that also looped in the Chicago White Sox.
During his time with the Dodgers, Alexander quickly became skipper Dave Roberts’ go-to lefty from the bullpen. He logged significant innings, 66 in 73 appearances during 2018—an era before the three-batter minimum rule reshaped pitching strategy. In the 2018 playoffs, he turned up in four games, including three against the Red Sox in the World Series, allowing runs in two of those outings.
In 2019, Alexander’s appearances were cut down to 28 games due to injury difficulties, but his performance remained consistent with a 3.63 ERA, nearly mirroring the previous year’s 3.68. Under the new pitching restrictions and after dealing with injuries, he appeared in 13 games during the 2020 regular season, posting a tidy 2.92 ERA, although he missed out on action during the Dodgers’ memorable postseason championship run.
The nagging injuries continued into 2021, yet Alexander scraped together a 2-0 record and 2.93 ERA when he took the field. After becoming a free agent, Alexander joined the Giants mid-2022, embarking on a stretch spanning three seasons where he turned in 117 appearances, including 12 as an opener, and maintained a commendable 3.28 ERA over 104.1 innings.
Fast forward to 2025, the tides turned with his performance taking a knock—Alexander finished 1-1 with a challenging 6.06 ERA over 19 appearances, recording more free passes than strikeouts. But with the Rockies in the rearview mirror, Alexander sets his sights on re-energizing his career in San Francisco, perhaps even reprising influential matchups against his former Dodgers squad.
