Can S.F. contend in short season?
Kapler, Zaidi believe Giants have a chance
The Giants are considered long shots to make the playoffs if the shortened 2020 schedule is played out, but management naturally maintains a more encouraging outlook on a 60game season.
For Gabe Kapler and Farhan Zaidi, whose duties include turning the Giants into a championshipcaliber organization down the road, winning in 2020 is realistic.
And not just competing, but contending.
“The cool thing about this is, we’re going to start this 2020 campaign in a pennant race,” said Kapler, in his first year as the Giants’ manager. “So every game takes on an added level of importance. We’re going to treat Game 1 like it’s really, really important and do the same thing every night through the end of the season.”
Zaidi, in his second year as president of baseball operations, spoke often in 2019 about playing “meaningful baseball” as late into the season as possible. The Giants were a .500 team as late as Aug. 26 but finished with 85 losses, their third straight losing season.
“Well,” Zaidi says now, “with 60 games left, we’re sort of 100 games deep. Every team is starting off from a point of contention just by virtue of the schedule and length of the season.
“There’s going to be a lot of intensity in those early games. The gravity of every win and loss is going to be felt. That’s a source of excitement.”
The Giants announced their pool of players Monday, four days before the start of their Spring Training 2.0 at Oracle Park, and all the pitchers and hitters listed were in the Giants’ Scottsdalebased training camps in midMarch when the coronavirus pandemic shut down the game.
The talent is the same — a few players with injuries have mended — but a shortened season, expanded roster and knowledge that any team can get hot over an abbreviated stretch could benefit a team that otherwise would have little chance for the postseason.
“We had a really positive
spring training,” said Zaidi, noting enthusiasm over the roster and the team’s outlook grew as training camp progressed. “I think that will definitely carry over.”
This season was supposed to be about developing young players and easing in some top prospects to the majors, but that can’t be fully orchestrated over two months of bigleague games and no minorleague season.
Even with expanded rosters, catcher Joey Bart could be left off the Opening Day roster. The second overall pick in the 2018 draft wasn’t expected to begin the season with the Giants if it started on schedule in late March, and that still is the case.
Zaidi said it’s “very possible, maybe even likely, we would start with just two catchers.” Asked if the Giants would be hesitant to begin Bart’s servicetime clock in a short season, Zaidi hinted the plan to call up Bart at some point this season hasn’t changed.
So until further notice, the season would start with two catchers: Buster Posey and an experienced backup, either Rob Brantly or Tyler Heineman. That’s because Zaidi plans to fill the extra roster spots with pitchers — starters aren’t initially expected to last more than four innings — and hitters who platoon at various positions.
Kapler said the rotation will be unconventional even with Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija, Kevin Gausman and Drew Smyly getting starts. Whether it goes four, five or sixdeep and how much an opener will be used are topics that’ll be played out.
“There will be pitchers who come in behind those guys to support us in longer stretches that you might not be used to,” Kapler said. “You might also see some relievers start games. But we want to see these guys again in this modified camp.
“We obviously looked at them in spring training, but it’s going to be different when we see them again. We need to see how stretched out they are, what level of intensity they’ve had over the last couple of months, and then make those determinations.
“We just know it’s not going to look like a traditional fiveman rotation to start the season.”