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SF Giants Player Review 2026: Was infielder Buddy Kennedy a psyop?

We can't rule out the possibility.
ByNick San Miguel
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San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants third baseman Buddy Kennedy (41) throws out Cincinnati Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson (not pictured) during the ninth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images
San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants third baseman Buddy Kennedy (41) throws out Cincinnati Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson (not pictured) during the ninth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

There were a lot of things about the 2026 SF Giants that may have understandably made fans question their sanity. One of them was the continued presence of infielder Buddy Kennedy on the roster which makes one wonder whether it was some sort of psyop.

For those who are unfamiliar, a psyop is short for a "psychological operation" which typically run by a military that is meant to influence the behavior of civilians. More colloquially, it is used for anything that is perceived to be some sort of hoax meant to mess with the public.

Don’t like Taylor Swift? It’s a psyop. Basically anything you dislike can be jokingly called a psyop.

Basically for some Giants fans, it felt like Buddy Kennedy was some sort of test or cruel trick. Maybe that’s a little mean but it was really hard to understand why Kennedy was getting so much playing time at certain points in the season.

To his credit, he was really impressive in the minors in 2026. He hit .321/.424/.543 with eight home runs and 33 runs batted in for the Sacramento River Cats but for whatever reason couldn’t translate that to the big league level. He got called up on June 1.

In 20 games total with the Giants, he had four hits in 38 plate appearances. Incredibly, those 20 games came in two stints which were separated by a brief stint with the Seattle Mariners where he had one hit in 11 plate appearances.

Giants had to bring Kennedy back given roster turnover

Part of the reason why the Giants brought him back after Seattle let him go is because of the injuries they were dealing with and because they traded Luis Arraez at the deadline, but it just seemed odd that they didn’t give his at-bats to some of their younger options in the minors.

In the end the Giants let Kennedy go again in late August and the Washington Nationals scooped him up so the psyop did not last all season. Perhaps our tormentors figured we’d catch on at some point.

The Giants cycled through a lot of infielders in the 2026 and Kennedy was certainly one of them. He has not been able to stick in the big leagues but maybe next season will be different or another team will have its own Buddy Kennedy psychological experience.*

*The Buddy Kennedy Psychological Experience would be a pretty cool band name. Feel free to take it.

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