Portrait 2021: San Francisco Giants
On April 1, the MLB will launch the activities of its 2021 season. Rob Manfred has taken the bet to see his teams play 162 games in a time of pandemic.
So here is what to expect from the various major baseball teams.
On the menu today: the San Francisco Giants.
A 29-31 record usually doesn’t bring much joy. But in the case of the San Francisco Giants, it can be said that the last campaign was satisfactory under the circumstances.
Indeed, despite a slow start with a record of eight wins and sixteen losses, the California side missed a playoff appearance by a hair, losing a tiebreaker to the Milwaukee Brewers by virtue of their intra-division record. .
Despite this, we felt that the team was heading in the right direction. Will it continue in the same vein in 2021?
Additions and Departures
Quietly, the Giants got their hands on one of the best pitchers on the market when Kevin Gausman accepted the team’s qualifying offer. Also in the starting rotation, the arrivals of Anthony DeSclafani, Alex Wood and Aaron Sanchez will bring a lot of depth to the mound, depth that no one can do without.
In the relief pen, John Brebbia and Jake McGee are both interesting acquisitions, although Brebbia is recovering from his Tommy John-type operation and won’t be available until June. San Francisco also added Shun Yamaguchi for a pittance.
As for positional players now, the addition of Tommy La Stella will give manager Gabe Kapler one more option as a left-handed hitter.
Drew Smyly and Tony Watson have left.
Strengths and weaknesses
The patience of the Giants batting will be the strength of the team, as will last year, when they finished second in majors with an OPS of .623 with a two-strike count. They led the MLB with an average of .201 again with two catches.
In 2020, Mike Yastrzemski has established himself as a pillar of this training. He will certainly transpose his performances in 2021. For his part, Donovan Solano has flirted with a batting average of .400 during the season. The offensive is therefore in good hands.
Where the shoe pinches is in relief with the buzzing fWAR of -0.4 from the enclosure last season. If the Giants hope to take it to the next level, they’ll need to address this shortcoming sooner rather than later. An addition to the outfield wouldn’t hurt either.
What to expect in 2021?
The Giants certainly don’t have the elements to compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. But we must not wake the Sleeping Giant either, as San Francisco could play spoilers more than once during the season.
However, the third place finish in the Western Division of the National League is more than accessible, even as the Giants should not be too far from the last place giving access to the playoffs.
It will remain to be seen how the staff will manage the situation of the players who will become free as the air at the end of the 2021 season, namely Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, Johnny Cueto and Buster Posey.
