SF Giants can break yet another Barry Bonds curse on Opening Day in 2026

The SF Giants at least had something fun happen in their regular season finale after another disappointing campaign. Shortstop Willy Adames became the first Giant to hit 30 home runs in a season since Barry Bonds did it in 2004.

It was a cool moment for the first-year Giant and showed how far he had come from his struggles early in the season. The Giants will not play another regular season game until next March, but they can break yet another curse in that game as well.

SF Giants can break Barry Bonds curses in back-to-back regular season games

Ever since Bonds' last season in 2007, the Giants have had a different Opening Day left fielder every single season since. It is a tradition unlike any other, but the Giants have the opportunity to snap that streak on Opening Day against the New York Yankees next season.

2026 seems like the best chance the team has had in a while to break the curse. Heliot Ramos was the Opening Day left fielder in 2025 and even though he was one of the worst defenders in all of baseball during the 2025 season, he projects to be in the lineup in left field to begin next season.

There are no guarantees, though.

Maybe to begin next season, the Giants will make Ramos the team's designated hitter and use Rafael Devers at first base. If they make a move in the offseason to acquire an outfielder who is better defensively than Ramos, which is practically anyone, then they may decide to use Ramos as a designated hitter.

A big factor in this early next season will be if Bryce Eldridge makes the Opening Day roster. The young prospect showed promise in his brief MLB stint at the end of the season, but the Giants may decide he needs a bit more seasoning in the minors to begin next year.

But if Eldridge has a big spring training and earns a spot on the club, that would mean that he and Devers would be almost interchangeable at first base and designated hitter which would mean Ramos has to play left field and the curse would be broken.

Then there is the possibility that the Giants move on from Ramos and trade him in the offseason. They may decide that his poor outfield defense is not worth it even if he has been one of the best hitters on the team the past two seasons.

There are a lot of moving parts with this so it is not a slam dunk that Ramos will start in left field and the curse will be broken. But with Adames ending one Barry Bonds curse in the final regular season game of 2025, it would be fitting if the Giants broke their other big Bonds curse in the first regular season game of 2026.

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