SF Giants: Biggest Disappointments of the 2020 Season

In a season where the SF Giants witnessed a lot of positives and nearly snuck into the playoffs, there were not many major disappointments.

With that being said, if a couple of key players had performed better in 2020, the SF Giants may have very well made their first playoff appearance since 2016. On most nights, the Giants offense gave the pitching staff the run support it needed. After watching pitchers get Cained for years, that is an odd sentence to write.

The Giants offense boasted a .785 OPS and a 114 wRC+, with both figures being the fifth-best mark in the National League. It is also some of the better offensive production the Giants have seen in over a decade.

Furthermore, the Giants hit for much more power than they had in recent seasons. They finished the year with 81 home runs, which was in the middle of the pack compared to the rest of the league. However, the rate at which they hit home runs was surprising:

To put it plainly, the Giants bats were the biggest surprise of the season.

However, the pitching staff struggled to get length from its starters and close games from its relievers. As a team, the Giants struggled to the tune of a 4.64 ERA, which was the eighth-best mark in the National League.

They did get some good individual performances, including strong seasons from Kevin Gausman, Drew Smyly, and Jarlin Garcia. However, as a whole, they struggled and they were several key players who performed below expectations. Only players who finished the season will be reviewed, so Jeff Samardzija, Hunter Pence, and Pablo Sandoval will not make the list.

The biggest disappointments of the 2020 season occurred on the pitching side with Johnny Cueto, Logan Webb, and Sam Coonrod being the notable names.

SF Giants Biggest Disappointments: Right-handed Starter Johnny Cueto

When the 2020 season began at the end of July, Johnny Cueto had been nearly two years removed from Tommy John surgery. In fact, Cueto had the surgery performed in the first week of August in 2018.

He worked exceptionally hard to return in 2019 as he was noticeably thinner while making a handful of starts down the stretch. In those starts, the right-handed hurler posted a 5.06 ERA (5.71 FIP) with 13 strikeouts across 16 innings. Perhaps, the fact that he allowed three home runs should have been a red flag.

However, he was healthy and was a positive sign for the Giants and baseball.

When he entered the 2020 season, I do not think anyone expected him to be the workhorse he was earlier in his career. The hope was they he would soak up some innings in each start while keeping the Giants in ballgames.

While he did eat up 63.1 innings in 12 starts, he struggled to keep the Giants close. On the year, he posted a 5.40 ERA (4.64 FIP) with a 20.2 percent strikeout rate against a 9.2 percent walk rate. However, the 1.3 HR/9 rate is a trend that has increased in recent seasons and suggests that hitters are barreling him up with more regularity.

Furthermore, he induced a ground ball in only 40.8 percent of his batted ball events, which is one of the lowest marks of his career. Hitters were able to get more lift on their swings than they had in prior seasons.

His 5.40 ERA was the highest among qualified pitchers in the National League. Though, the 4.64 FIP suggests he was victim to some bad luck.

The positive news is that Cueto remained healthy throughout the season. The bad news is that he struggled to find the consistency he possessed earlier in his career.

The veteran hurler has one year remaining on his six-year, $126 million deal with a team option for 2022. It seems likely that the Giants will buy out that option for $5 million.

The fact that the Giants missed the playoffs was a product of many factors, but if Cueto had performed up to expectations, San Francisco may have played October baseball.

SF Giants Biggest Disappointments: Right-Handed Reliever Sam Coonrod

Sam Coonrod quickly became one of the more polarizing players in the SF Giants clubhouse as he became the only Giants player to stand during a communal kneel prior to the National Anthem that took place across baseball.

For years, Coonrod had been on the prospect radar as he excelled in the lower minor league levels. However, he tore his UCL in his pitching elbow and missed substantial development time after needing Tommy John surgery.

Since he has returned, he has pitched exclusively out of the bullpen. At times, it has looked like a spot he could thrive in. As a rookie in 2019, the right-handed hurler posted a 3.58 ERA with a concerningly-high 5.24 FIP in 33 games.

Similar to Logan Webb, it appeared like Coonrod had the mentality to pitch through traffic as he displayed less-than-ideal command.

However, that was not the case in 2020. the 28-year-old struggled to the tune of a 9.82 ERA (4.76 FIP) across 14.2 innings with 15 strikeouts against seven walks. There were brief times this season where it looked like Coonrod might emerge into the closer role, but he hit a rough patch down the stretch and could not recover.

For a pitcher that boasts a fastball that sits in the high-90’s, it is surprising that hitters do not look uncomfortable in their at-bats against him.

Of course, most fans will remember that he blew a save in a key game against the San Diego Padres in the final weekend of the season. If they had closed out that game, the Giants would have squeaked into the playoffs.

Though the fact that the SF Giants fell short was due to many factors, so it would be unfair to place blame all on one person.  Regardless, his 2020 season was a disappointment, and it looked like he took a step back in his development.