| 2021 San Francisco Giants | ||
|---|---|---|
| National League West Champions | ||
 | ||
| League | National League | |
| Division | West | |
| Ballpark | Oracle Park | |
| City | San Francisco, California | |
| Record | 107–55 (.660) | |
| Divisional place | 1st | |
| Owners | Larry Baer (managing general partner) | |
| President of baseball operations | Farhan Zaidi | |
| Managers | Gabe Kapler | |
| Television | KNTV (NBC Bay Area 11) (Jon Miller, Mike Krukow, Duane Kuiper, Dave Flemming) NBC Sports Bay Area (Duane Kuiper, Mike Krukow, Dave Flemming, Jon Miller, Shawn Estes, Javier López, Hunter Pence, JT Snow, Randy Winn) | |
| Radio | KNBR (104.5 FM and 680 AM) San Francisco Giants Radio Network (Jon Miller, Dave Flemming, Duane Kuiper, Mike Krukow) KXZM (93.7 FM, Spanish) (Erwin Higueros, Tito Fuentes, Marvin Benard) | |
| Stats | ESPN.com Baseball Reference | |
| ||
The 2021 season was the 139th season for the San Francisco Giants in Major League Baseball (MLB), their 64th year in San Francisco, and their 22nd at Oracle Park. It was the Giants' second season under manager Gabe Kapler, who managed his first 162-game season with the club (after the 2020 season was shortened to 60 games because of the COVID-19 pandemic), and he led them to the best record in the league.
On September 13, the Giants clinched a spot in the postseason for the first time since 2016 and became the first team to clinch a spot in the 2021 postseason.[1] On September 29, the Giants won their 104th game of the season, which set a San Francisco era record for most wins in a season.[2] On October 3, the Giants won the National League West title and home-field advantage throughout the entire playoffs.[3][4] It was their ninth division title in franchise history, and their first since 2012. It was also their 107th win of the season, which set a new franchise record for most wins. It broke the previous record of 106 wins set by the 1904 New York Giants.
In the 2021 regular season, the Giants' batters led the National League in home runs (241), slugging percentage (.440), OPS (.769), intentional walks (45), pitches per plate appearance (3.99), stolen base percentage (83%), and pull percentage (30.2%).[5][6][7] They hit 18 pinch-hit home runs, a major league record.[8] Of all NL teams, they had the highest batting average (.280), on-base percentage (.368), slugging percentage (.461), and OPS (.829) from the catcher position, the highest slugging percentage (.588) and OPS (.969) from the first base position, and the most RBIs from the shortstop position (108).[9] They were second in the NL in runs (804), RBIs (768), walks (602), and batting average (.249).
The team's pitchers led the NL in fewest home runs (151), fewest walks (416), and strikeouts/walk (3.43). They tied for the league lead with 56 saves and fewest hit batters (63).[10]
Manager Gabe Kapler began the 2021 season with a coaching staff of 13, including nine who had never been on a major league staff before he hired them, and most of them were young enough to be playing themselves.[11] In the 2021 regular season, his Giants winning percentage rose from .483 to .660, the 12 overturns caused by his challenges were tied for the most in the majors, and he was one of only two managers who were not ejected during the season.[12] He used more pinch hitters per game than any other major league manager for the second season in a row (2.60), and the second-most pitchers per game (4.7).[12]
The Giants lost in five games to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS.[13]
Kapler was named the Sporting News 2021 NL Manager of the Year.[14][15][16]
- ^ Guardado, Maria (September 13, 2021). "Giants first to punch postseason ticket". sfgiants.com. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
- ^ Guardado, Maria (September 29, 2021). "With historic 104th win, SF nears West title". sfgiants.com. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
- ^ Snyder, Matt (October 4, 2021). "Giants clinch NL West with 107th win, end Dodgers' streak of eight straight division titles". CBSSports.com. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
- ^ Guardado, Maria. "'Pretty amazing' Giants claim NL West crown". MLB.com. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
- ^ "2021 National League Pitches Batting". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ "2021 National League Advanced Batting". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ "2021 National League Standard Batting". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ Miller, Scott (October 8, 2021). "'Late Night' LaMonte, Pinch-Hit Homers and a Closer From Nowhere". The New York Times.
- ^ "2021 NL Team Position Performance by BA". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ "2021 National League Standard Pitching". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ "Kapler's vision for Giants coaching staff helped quick turnaround". RSN. October 7, 2021.
- ^ a b "2021 Major League Baseball Managers". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ "What we learned as Giants' season ends in controversy". RSN. October 15, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
- ^ "Posey honored by players for comeback season with Giants". RSN. October 28, 2021.
- ^ Higgins, Sami (October 29, 2021). "SF Giants News: Giants lead 2021 Sporting News MLB Awards". McCovey Chronicles.
- ^ "Buster Posey, Gabe Kapler, Farhan Zaidi earn Sporting News honors". www.msn.com.