The San Francisco Giants surprised a lot of people this season with their success. This is the first time the Giants are back in the playoffs since the 2016 season, when they lost in the National League Division Series. While many thought this would be another disappointing year for them, they were the first team to 100 wins, and are finishing the regular season as one of the strongest teams in the league. What makes them so dangerous come October?
Age is Just a Number
The Giants have the third oldest team in MLB, with an average age of 30.2 years old. They have many veterans who are all performing their best this season and despite some setbacks from injuries, they’ve continued to win and perform at a high caliber.
Offensive Success From Veterans
Prior to the season, there was doubt regarding the projected performance of the team’s offense, particularly from their veteran players. While some believed they were past their prime, they are proving that they still are valuable and consistent offensive players. Many of the team’s veteran players are having some of the best seasons of their career.
Looking at the table below, I compared some veterans’ 2021 wOBA to their career. We can see in many cases they are performing better this season.
Now this table isn’t entirely fair, because the number of games between their best seasons and this season differ in certain cases due to injury, decreased playing time, etc. But the point that the veterans have come through this year and performed to the best of their ability holds true.
Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford, and Evan Longoria have had incredible seasons. Posey opted out of the 2020 season, but came back this year to hit .305/.391/.507. Crawford put up an all-star caliber season, hitting .303/.377/.527. Longoria did miss a significant amount of time due to injury, but still managed to hit .285/.377/.526.
The addition of Kris Bryant at the trade deadline turned out to be one of the better moves made, as he’s also put up great numbers this season and helped bridge the gap during Longoria’s 60 day IL stint.
The fact that the veteran players are all having such incredible seasons at the same time will be a huge advantage come playoffs. While we don’t typically put too much weight on performance in the playoffs because of small sample size, I have no doubt that any of these veterans will be able to perform to the same caliber and will be able to maintain a calm, strong mental state.
Offensive Success From their Non-Veterans
The non-veteran players are also having great offensive success this season. LaMonte Wade Jr. in particular did lose some time to injury, but put up a slash line of .264/.339/.510 with a .360 wOBA. Austin Slater has also been the team’s biggest stolen base threat with 15 this year.
Pitching to Their Strengths
The Giants starting rotation ranks third in the majors with a 3.49 FIP. Kevin Gausman has really stood out this season, putting up a career low 2.62 ERA.
One of the reasons the pitching has done so well this season is because the Giants worked with their starters to improve their pitch mixes. Focusing on the pitcher’s best pitches in terms of movement, velocity, and results, adjusting the sequencing and pitch mixes have helped their starters improve their results.
Some changes from 2020-2021 include, but are not limited to:
- Gausman is throwing his splitter 10% more
- Webb is throwing his sinker 20% more
- DeSclafani is throwing his slider more frequently than his fourseam
The bullpen has had its ups and downs this season, but generally is also dependable, ranked 6th in the majors in terms of FIP. Notable relievers include Tyler Rogers and Jake McGee. But McGee was recently put on the IL with an oblique injury.
If this team’s pitching has a weakness, I believe it is the bullpen. While they have performed very well this season, the injury to McGee may prevent him from performing his best heading into October. McGee and Rogers have both been critical in high leverage situations this season.
Defense to Complement the Pitching Staff
The Giants’ defense has been a team weakness for the past couple of seasons, but is improved this year. Infield defense is particularly important because the Giants have pitchers who pitch for weak contact and have high ground ball rates, Logan Webb and Alex Wood are two examples. While the overall defense may be improved, the infield has a combined DRS of -23, with its biggest weakness at second base. This is definitely an area of concern moving into October.
Injury Notes:
- Jake McGee is on the 10-Day IL and is expected to return for playoffs
- Johnny Cueto is on the 10 Day IL and recently made a rehab start. His return is TBD
How far do you think the Giants will make it this year?