Manager Bruce Bochy said Melancon could be in the mix for saves to begin the 2019 season, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Bochy wouldn't commit to a closer, naming Melancon along with Sam Dyson and Will Smith, who finished the 2018 campaign as the team's endgamer, as possible options. While Melancon showed improvement in his second year with the Giants, posting a 3.23 ERA across 39 innings, Smith still seems like the safer bet to open the 2019 season back in the ninth inning.