Locked On Giants – Daily Podcast On The San Francisco Giants

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick answers questions from listeners about what to expect from the Giants this offseason and next year. He talks about the fit of free agents Didi Gregorius, Tommy LaStella, Cesar Hernandez, and Blake Treinen. The next question answered is: Do you see Farhan/Harris going after Bauer/Stroman or Ozuna/Springer or LeMahieu/Semien or do you see them bargain basement hunting like they have been the last two years? Do they bring back Gausman/Smyly/Cahill or do they go find three cheaper versions? The next question asked and answered is: What would you consider a successful 2021 season for the Giants? Better than .500 record? A postseason appearance? And finally, Ben answers the question: Which giants hitters are most likely to regress next season? Which hitters are likely to build on this season (like Yaz)?

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On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick hands out grades for the 2020 Giants. He looks at how Gabe Kapler fared in his first season as Giants manager. Kapler, replacing the legendary Bruce Bochy, had an uphill battle to win over fans, but for the most part he came through with flying colors. He made some highly publicized questionable moves, but it's hard to look past the fact the the Giants were the majors' most improved offensive team under his watch, and they exceeded expectations to miss the postseason by just one game. Speaking of the team's offensive improvement, Ben grades the performance of the new coaching staff, who should be credited with the hitters' dramatic turnarounds. Finally, Ben grades the outfielders, infielders, defense, starting pitchers, relievers, trade deadline, and offseason moves.

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On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about how no team improved more offensively than the 2020 Giants. He also talks about how their pitchers fared from a numbers perspective in 2020, after looking at the offense on yesterday's show. But first he follows up on yesterday's discussion in which he speculated that the Giants were probably MLB's most improved offensive team in 2020, and that turned out to be the case. The Giants ranked first in non-pitcher wRC+ improvement from 2019 to 2020 by a significant margin. Going even further, the Giants were a dramatic 50% better at home in 2020 than they were in 2019, which was by far the biggest jump of any team. Notably, their opponents only improved by 6% at Oracle Park, meaning that the Giants' improvements cannot be explained by changes to Oracle Park, as some have said.

In looking at how Giants pitchers fared in 2020 from a numbers perspective, Ben notes that overall, they were a below average pitching team. Their starters were better than their relievers by fWAR relative to the rest of the league, although the starters had a worse ERA than the relievers. It looks like the Giants' starters were a bit unlucky, and they were in fact a solid group, headlined by excellent performances by Kevin Gausman and Drew Smyly, and solid performance by Tyler Anderson. In the bullpen, several members had fine seasons, but a few blow ups seemingly cost the Giants a shot at the postseason. Trevor Gott and Sam Coonrod did not have great years, when the dust settled.

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On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about the Giants' dramatic offensive improvement in 2020. While some had attributed their improvements to changes to their home ballpark, that conclusion has holes since Giants' opponents did not significantly improve from last year to this year at Oracle Park. Across the board, the Giants' hitters showed improvement from last year to this year. The players they brought in had tremendous offensive success as well. It's easy to see that their new hitting coaches, who are known to utilize the latest tech and tools, had a profound impact. The Giants were a bottom-two offensive team in the National League last year in several major categories like on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and weighted runs created plus, but this year they became a top team in all of baseball in those fundamental categories. They also scored the eighth-most runs in all of baseball.

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On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about the San Francisco Giants prospects headed to the fall Instructional League in Arizona. There was no minor league season in 2020, so the development these players will be able to undergo in the roughly one-month league will be vital. The Giants have more players heading to the Instructional League than any other team, with 66. They have so many players, in fact, that they will be the only club fielding two separate teams. There are eight teams in total that will compete in the east Phoenix area, with two of those teams being comprised of Giants prospects. So their players with play games against six other teams from rival organizations. This will be very different than what some Giants prospects experienced at the Alternate Site in Sacramanto this year, when they only played intrasquad games against each other.

Many of the Giants' top prospects will attend the Instructional League, including several who were not at the Alternate Site in Sacramento. The Giants used the Alternate Site, which was limited in size, mainly for players who could contribute to the 2020 major league team, with a few prospects sprinkled in. The Instructional League, however, is littered with most of the Giants' best prospects, with the exception of Joey Bart, who cannot attend because he is on the club's 40-man roster. The Instructional League should be hugely important since there was no minor league season this year. It will be the best available opportunity for Giants prospects to face real competition that will somewhat resemble what they would have seen in a minor league season.

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On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about the San Francisco Giants' postmortem press conference involving President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi, Manager Gabe Kapler, and President and CEO Larry Baer. Zaidi said that the Giants' 2020 season was a "sign of progress," in that the hitting was clearly improved dramatically and the team took the playoff hunt down to the final pitch on the final day of the regular season. Baer gave a positive review of the job Zaidi and Kapler have done, stating that the future of the organization is looking bright.

Looking ahead to 2021, Zaidi said that it will be a goal to make the postseason, and they will continue to stick to their mantra of fielding a competitive team every year, all while prioritizing the development of young players. That's what the Giants did in 2019 and 2020, and there's no reason to expect anything different in '21. Zaidi said that the team will be shopping for starting pitching, with Kevin Gausman and Drew Smyly being at the top of their priority list. Both pitchers have expressed a desire to return to San Francisco. Zaidi also said that the team is open to adding a veteran or two to a young bullpen, and that he believes the team was one left-handed bat short this year, and adding one is a priority. He also said that they may look outside the organization to find catching help to support Buster Posey, with Joey Bart potentially needing more reps in the minor leagues.

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On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about the status of the Giants' roster. Who are their impending free agents? Who's already signed for next year? Who's arbitration eligible? Who's pre-arbitration eligible? Kevin Gasman and Drew Smyly headline the list of Giants free agents. Both were signed on one-year deals and both delivered huge performances. The Giants' starting rotation was shaky even with those two, so there's little doubt that the club is interested in re-signing both. The two players have expressed a desire to stay in San Francisco, so there appears to be mutual interest. Ben explores the possibility that one or both could be extended the qualifying offer.

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On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about the San Francisco Giants' disappointing season-ending series loss to the San Diego Padres. The Giants ended up missing the postseason by one game, and it's easy to point to a number of games they should have won throughout the year. That lists includes the second game of Friday's doubleheader against the Padres, in which Sam Coonrod blew a two-run seventh-inning lead (the final inning), issuing a walk-off three-run home run to Trent Grisham at Oracle Park. The Padres were able to walk the Giants off the field because it was a makeup game from one that was postponed where the Padres were the home team. It was among the most crushing losses in recent Giants history. If the Giants had been able to win that game, they would have been in the postseason and faced the Dodgers in the first round of the playoffs.

Despite the bitter disappointment, the Giants' 2020 season was ultimately a success. Their offense came alive and became one of the best in all of baseball. They finished the year eighth in runs scored, after being one of the worst offensive teams in MLB for the past several seasons. Much of the credit goes to the new coaching staff, who prepared hitters in an entirely new fashion. Credit also goes to Farhan Zaidi and Scott Harris for assembling this group, and signing players like Wilmer Flores, Darin Ruf, Kevin Gausman, and Drew Smyly in the offseason, all of whom had great seasons. Several Giants veterans, like Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford, also had strong rebound seasons. The bullpen was shaky at times and it cost the Giants several games. First-year manager Gabe Kapler was a net positive, making some questionable bullpen decisions but ultimately making lots of good ones, and being one of the best managers of an offense in the sport.

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On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about the San Francisco Giants' devastating loss to the Colorado Rockies on Thursday afternoon. The Giants had the Rockies' starter on the ropes early, with a 3-0 lead and runners on second and third with less than two outs, but they could not add on and let the Rockies creep back into the game. Kevin Gausman started for San Francisco, and he pitched extremely well once again. He struck out nine and walked one in six innings, allowing just two earned runs. But Sam Coonrod gave up two runs in relief in the seventh, giving the Rockies a 4-3 lead. The Giants tied the game in the bottom of the eighth on Brandon Belt's solo home run, and the game remained tied going to extra innings.

The Giants had a chance to win by just scoring a run in the bottom of the 10th, but Trevor Story made an unbelievable play throwing out the winning run at home on a forceout. Earlier in the inning, Wilmer Flores nearly won the game with a home run, but it was caught at the wall. In the 11th, the Rockies took the lead on a ground ball and sacrifice fly, and the Giants could not answer in the bottom of the frame, as Austin Slater grounded into a double play with the tying run on third and winning run on first with one out. It was a devastating, gut-punching loss for the Giants, who fell to 28-28 with four games remaining in the season.

They're still clinging to a playoff spot, but they begin a very tough four-game series with the Padres tonight, which begins with a doubleheader. The Padres will throw extremely tough righty Dinelson Lamet in game one, so the Giants will have their hands full. Chris Paddack will start game two for San Diego. The Giants have not announced starters for either game. The Giants will be scoreboard watching this weekend. They'll be rooting for the Phillies and Brewers to lose. The Phillies play a tough road series in Tampa Bay, and the Brewers play four against the Cardinals, including a doubleheader today. The Giants' playoff odds entering the final weekend are 47%, per FanGraphs.

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On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about the San Francisco Giants' 7-2 win over the Colorado Rockies last night. Caleb Baragar started the game as an opener, and had a 1-2-3 first inning. Logan Webb came in after Baragar allowed a leadoff double to Charlie Blackmon in the second inning, and Webb got out of the inning without allowing a run. Webb ended up going 5.1 innings in "relief," and allowed just two runs. He was much better than he's been recently, and he found success by attacking the strike zone with his fastball. The Giants fell behind 1-0 and 2-1, but they came back with a huge bottom of the fifth inning.

Alex Dickerson led off the fifth with a double down the right field line, and Donovan Solano advanced him to third with a deep fly out to left. Brandon Belt walked, setting up a first-and-third with one out for Brandon Crawford, who hit a sacrifice fly to center field to tie the game. Evan Longoria walked, which brought up Mauricio Dubón with two on and two out, and he crushed a season changing three-run home run to left field on a down-and-in slider. It was the biggest hit in Dubón's career, and it gave the Giants a lead they would not relinquish. With the win, the Giants moved into the NL's first wild card position, where they have a one game lead with five games remaining.

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