The San Francisco Giants relied heavily on their bullpen in 2010, 2012 and 2014 as they won three World Series and Casilla was as reliable as anyone. Not only was he able to get both right handed and left handed hitters out, he also could pitch multiple innings. Both attributes are rare for a relief pitcher in today’s game, but Casilla had the skillset. So much so that when Brian Wilson was not re-signed and Sergio Romo struggled in the ninth, Bruce Bochy continually asked Casilla to close games for the Giants.
Much like when Bochy asked Bengie Molina to be the team’s cleanup hitter, asking Santiago Casilla to close games was never an ideal fit.