Despite down year, SF Giants pitching staff still excelled in one key area

The SF Giants pitching staff struggled in a lot of areas in 2026, but they still excelled at keeping the ball in the ballpark. In fact, they had one of the lowest home run rates in baseball, with a 1.01 HR/9 rate.

The Giants were fourth in that category. The Boston Red Sox (0.96 HR/9), Pittsburgh Pirates (0.97
HR/9), and St. Louis Cardinals (0.99 HR/9) bested them in that category.

Of course, the ballpark they play in certainly helps. Oracle Park was one of the most difficult parks to hit a home run in last season. Not surprisingly, the same was true for Busch Stadium, PNC Park, and Fenway Park.

While the Giants did well at limiting home runs because they play half of their games at Oracle Park, they still excelled in a few areas that help to prevent home runs.

For starters, the pitching staff allowed opposing hitters to pull the ball in the air at 16.6 percent, the lowest in baseball. Teams are chasing that because it is often the best batted-ball outcome in baseball.

SF Giants pitchers still kept on the ball on the ground and in the ballpark

Pulling the ball in the air also leads to a lot of extra bases. In 2026, hitters posted a 1.212 slugging percentage when doing so. The Giants did a nice job of limiting that outcome.

In addition to this, the Giants excelled at keeping the ball on the ground. For the past several years, high ground-ball rates have been a trait of Giants pitching staffs. While the composition of the pitching staff might change, they still had some excellent ground-ball pitchers in Logan Webb and Landen Roupp.

Giants pitchers led baseball by inducing a ground ball in 45.8 percent of batted-ball events. It is very hard to hit a home run on a ground ball. That often leads to a lot of outs and double plays. Strikeouts are the best outcome, but ground balls are not bad either.

On the opposite side of this rate, Giants pitchers only allowed the ball in the air in 54.2 percent of batted-ball events. The A's pitching staff had the worst rate in this category, allowing opposing hitters to get the ball in the air in 61.3 percent of batted-ball events. Not surprisingly, they also had the worst home run rate in baseball, at 1.55 HR/9.

It was a down year for the Giants pitching staff. They struck out too few hitters, walked a few too many, and were not particularly strong at run prevention. However, they still kept the ball on the ground and in the ballpark better than most teams.

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