Any optimism and excitement that were surrounding the San Francisco Giants heading into the 2026 season were snuffed out relatively quickly. Now, the Giants have some decisions to make in an offseason that may be extended by a looming lockout in Major League Baseball. 

There is a good chance that while some players will not return to San Francisco, others will return to the Bay to play baseball.

One such player who might be returning is right-hander Landen Roupp. If he does, then he will need to be better in 2027.

This season, Roupp played his biggest role yet in his three seasons as an MLB starting pitcher.

He started 29 games after starting 22 in 2025, but with his bigger role, there was a decline. In the 29 games Roupp started, he posted a 9-14 record with a 4.01 ERA over 155 innings pitched.

Those numbers demonstrated a notable difference compared to his 2025 season in which he went 7-7 with a 3.80 ERA in 106.2 innings of work. 

When it came to playing home games, Roupp was slightly better, posting a 5-7 record with a 3.69 ERA across 13 starts. In away games, he was 4-7 with a 4.27 ERA in 16 starts. 

Roupp's best month came in April, when he went 4-1 with a 3.07 ERA over five starts and 29.1 innings pitched. During that time, he struck out 30 batters as well.

From there, the 28-year-old began to struggle. Across May and June, he went 0-7, and in June he posted a 7.14 ERA in six starts, marking his worst month of the season by that metric.

Roupp bounced back in July, going 2-1 with a 2.55 ERA in four starts, but the Giants' season was already in freefall at that point. 

Roupp was hardly alone in his struggles, as San Francisco's entire pitching staff was below average. The Giants finished 23rd in ERA (4.33), 27th in strikeouts (1,204), and 24th in WHIP (1.36).

Overall, president of baseball operations Buster Posey and the front office need to evaluate the pitching staff and make some moves to bolster it. However, if Roupp does return, he may be assigned a big role once again. 

To aid in this team's success, he will have to show that he can pitch consistently at the major-league level. The potential is there for him to be successful, but he is going to have to put in the work to achieve it.