SF Giants: 4 ways Gabe Kapler has mismanaged the pitching staff

SF Giants manager Gabe Kapler was criticized throughout his tenure with the Philadelphia Phillies for mismanaging his pitching staff. It hasn’t taken long for some concerning trends to emerge in San Francisco.

The Giants have gotten off to a slow start to the 2020 season. Their 8-11 record probably doesn’t surprise many on-lookers, but how they’ve gotten there has been a bit different expected. As of August 12, the team ranked 9th in the majors in runs scored on the backs of breakouts from Donovan Solano, Mike Yastrzemski, and Austin Slater.

On the other hand, the pitching staff has been torched for a 5.07 ERA (24th in the league). Even then, those numbers understate what opponents have been able to do against the team. The Giants have committed the most errors in the league (21) by a pretty substantial margin. Opponents have added plenty of unearned runs that didn’t harm their rotation’s ERA.

The Giants pitching staff wasn’t exactly a particularly strong group entering the season. The organization further hamstrung their starting pitchers by slowly ramping up their pitch counts. Given the slew of injuries of pitchers around baseball, it appears the decision was beneficial to their long-term pitcher’s health.

However, there were costs. Costs obviously worth paying, but nonetheless were there. Forced to be more reliant on an inexperienced bullpen, manager Gabe Kapler’s bullpen management skills have been tested early in his tenure. It hasn’t exactly gone smoothly.

Kapler’s handling of his pitching staff was a source of criticism during his time at the helm of the Philadelphia Phillies. Early on in San Francisco, there have been similar problems. A number of concerning trends have emerged from Kapler’s decisionmaking. Especially around his bullpen management.

It’s obviously still early in Kapler’s tenure and he’s had to adjust on the fly more than usual. But there’s no denying that he’s made a number of questionable decisions.