5 bold predictions for the SF Giants in the 2024 season

The SF Giants went from looking like a team that would hover around .500 to looking like a Wild Card contender with the recent additions of Matt Chapman and Blake Snell. Here are 5 bold predictions for the 2024 SF Giants.

5 bold predictions for the SF Giants in the 2024 season

The Giants had a pretty outstanding offseason. Even the most virulent Farhan Zaidi haters have to admit that, on paper at least, the Giants are a much better team than they were last season.

They have added power with Jorge Soler, speed and agility with Jung Hoo Lee, defense with Matt Chapman, and top-line rotation strength with Blake Snell. Those are all areas they needed to improve upon and they did.

Now, they must play the games. We saw last season with the Padres and Mets that a bunch of fancy offseason additions do not always lead to the playoffs. The Giants will have to avoid falling into that pit trap and learn to play as a cohesive unit as all championship teams do.

There are many storylines going into this season such as how will the inexperienced pitchers like Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks do in the rotation? Will Jung Hoo Lee live up to that big contract? Will Chapman and Snell be as advertised?

Of course, we do not know any of the answers to these questions just yet. For now, all we can did is wildly speculate and guess which is what this article is meant to do. The following are 5 bold predictions for the 2024 San Francisco Giants.

Bold SF Giants 2024 predictions: Kyle Harrison wins rookie of the year

We got a brief look at Kyle Harrison, the top prospect for the Giants, in 2023 and it was a good one. He was far from flawless in his outings, but when he was pitching well it was incredibly impressive to watch.

In seven starts last season, Harrison had a 4.15 ERA in 34 and 2/3 innings pitched. He had 35 strikeouts and gave up an alarming 8 home runs as well.

His home debut at Oracle Park against the Reds when he struck out 11 batters was electric. I think we are going to see a lot more of that in 2024 for Harrison.

He has looked really solid in Spring Training thus far. Plus, he has talked about how learning from staff ace Logan Webb has made him improve as a pitcher in terms of preparation and mentality.

Plus, with the addition of Snell, Harrison now has another veteran pitcher he can learn from and try to one-up each time he takes the mound.

It is somewhat rare for the Rookie of the Year to go to a pitcher, but it happens. Winners from the past decade who are pitchers include Devin Williams, Jacob DeGrom, and Michael Fulmer.

Harrison would have to have a pretty stellar year to win the award, especially since voters will be predisposed to give it to Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Even if he does not win the award, I think Harrison will have a breakout 2024 season and establish himself as a big part of the rotation going forward.

The next bold prediction focuses on a guy who could give Harrison a run for his money in the Rookie of the Year race.

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Bold SF Giants 2024 predictions: Jung Hoo Lee will be an All-Star

In a dream scenario for Giants fans, Harrison and Jung Hoo Lee would be neck and neck with one another in the Rookie of the Year race. It may be a dream scenario, but in reality Jung Hoo Lee could have a great 2024.

We have heard ever since he was signed that there was going to be an adjustment period for Lee coming to MLB from the KBO. That likely remains true, but he has shown in Spring Training that he can handle big league pitching.

He has hit the ball very well this spring and had a really impressive home run off of Diamondbacks pitcher Ryne Nelson.

He has also shown promise in the outfield with his defensive skills. If he does take a bit of time to adjust at the plate, he can make up for it by playing well in center field. He already has several Gold Gloves from his time in Korea, so why not add an MLB one to his collection?

Lee's combination of speed, defense, and bat-to-ball skills are impressive. I think that he will hit the ball well enough in the first half to warrant a spot on the All-Star team and, who knows, maybe him and Harrison will battle for Rookie of the Year.

The next prediction centers on another young outfielder in the Giants organization.

Bold SF Giants 2024 predictions: Luis Matos will be a starter by the end of the year

This prediction may be more common sense rather than bold based on how Luis Matos is currently swinging the bat. With Austin Slater being a little banged up, he may even make the Opening Day roster.

However, he still has two veterans in Michael Conforto and Mike Yastrzemski ahead of him on the depth chart. That may not last for long depending on how well Conforto and Yaz fare early in the season.

Matos has put up some great stats so far. As of this writing, he has 4 home runs, 6 doubles, and 11 RBI. Those are impressive numbers.

Not to mention the fact that Matos bulked up and added 10-15 pounds of muscle in the offseason. That muscle seems like it has added some power to his bat which is something he needed to improve on from last year.

Matos has been thought of as an outfielder of the future for the Giants for some time now. But in 2024 he could prove that he is the outfielder of the present and force out a veteran in the process.

Bold SF Giants 2024 predictions: The Giants will make the playoffs

The final bold prediction is that the Giants will make the playoffs for the first time since 2021. They have the talent on their roster to do it even in a tough NL West division.

We all know that the Dodgers have a crazy amount of talent, essentially fielding an All-Star caliber roster. The Diamondbacks are young and exciting and are coming off a World Series loss. And the Padres still have a lot of talent despite being a disappointment for several seasons now.

The Giants may be able to compete and hang in there in the NL West standings if they can stay healthy and avoid any prolonged slumps. Maybe if they are in the hunt they will try to add at the deadline rather than play it safe like they have the last few years.

Even if they cannot win the NL West, the expanded Wild Card gives them a good opportunity to at least have two guaranteed games in the playoffs. The Giants proved in 2010, 2012, and 2014 that all it takes is making it into the postseason and playing your best baseball at the right time to make a deep run and potentially win a World Series.

Who knows if the Giants can win the World Series as things stand right now, but it definitely seems like they have the talent on paper to win somewhere in the neighborhood of 85-90 games and earn a spot in the postseason.

Those are 5 bold predictions for the Giants for the 2024 season. We will have to see if any of them come true as the regular season starts in San Diego on Thursday.