When the San Francisco Giants were winning chips in 2010, 2012, and 2014, it was all about pitching and defense. Or was it? During those three magical years, the Giants were 12th, 12th, and 17th in runs scored, 10th, 30th, and 17th in home runs, and 14th, 14th, and 17th in OPS. Offense, defense, and special teams! Then the malaise hit as the Giants morphed into a slap-hitting, station to station offense that even had the BART blaring its horns. From 2016 to 2018, the Giants were 19th, 29th, and 29th in runs scored, 28th, 30th, and 29th in home runs, and 20th, 30th, and 29th in OPS. After the 2018 season, the Giants hired Farhan Zaidi and the small-ball offense has become a remnant of the past. The renaissance has helped the Giants to a 28-19 record to compete with the big dogs in the NL West and, as we learned from the 90s, chicks dig the long ball.
I normally write about a player who’s been hot or cold or someone who’s been added or dropped in a ton of leagues. I wanted to go in a different direction this week because the Giants have been on my consciousness for quite some time as they keep popping up when researching for DFS. Without further adieu, let’s pay homage to the Giants. As a Dodgers fan, I just puked but didn’t want to clean up the floor so I kept it in my mouth, swallowed it, then puked it up again because it was so disgusting, then swallowed it, then puked, then swallowed. How is your day going?
There is upside to streaming right-handed pitchers against the Giants because they strike out 28.1% of the time against them. That is tops in all of baseball. That said, they are 7th in ISO so there’s tons of risk as well. No risk it, no biscuit? Against left-handed pitching, it’s a different story as they strike out only 21.7% of the time, 22nd in the league while posting the 11th-highest ISO.
As mentioned earlier, the Giants have completely revamped their approach and philosophy since Zaidi took over. The effects of his signings and coaching staff hires wouldn’t blossom until 2020. The Giants went from 28th to 8th in runs scored, 26th to 12th in home runs, 26th to 6th in RBI, 24th to 17th in walks, and 29th to 6th in OPS. If you don’t want to put too much stock into the 2020 COVID-infested season, I get it but they are 12th in runs, 7th in home runs, 4th in walks, 7th in strikeouts, and 14th in OPS to start 2021.
Just look at the evolution of Brandon Crawford, who has been with the Giants since 2011. In the three years before Zaidi arrived, the strikeout rate was around 20% while the ISO was in the .120-.150 range. The swinging strike rate was consistently in the 13% range while the barrel rate was 4-5% while the launch angle was in the 8-11% range. After Zaidi came on board, the launch angle went up to the 12-13% range, barrel rate went to 9.4% last season and is 14.9% this year. The swinging strike rate spiked up to 15.4% and 16.2% but the ISO went to .209 and .287. Not only do chicks dig the long ball, but adding a little risk to the equation is worth it for the huge reward of a home run.
In addition, not surprisingly since Zaidi is a Billy Beane disciple, but the Giants have reigned in the risk on the basepaths. From 2016 to 2018, they were 13th, 16th, and 12th in stolen base attempts per game. Since then, the Giants have been 25th, 25th, and 20th.
Anyways, I don’t want to slobber over the Giants any more than I have to but I have so much respect for what Zaidi has transformed this team into. I had no doubt it would happen since I saw what he did for the Dodgers.
From a fantasy perspective, don’t utilize left-handed pitcher against the Giants, but righties who have bat missing abilities can be viable. On the flip side, the Giants bats offer upside and are often underutilized and appreciated.
