You know the saying: “New year, new me.”
For some reason, once the clock strikes midnight on Jan. 1, we have the sudden urge to better ourselves and strive to make changes in the new calendar year as if we weren’t capable of doing so already.
Those empty promises, however attainable they might be, usually fall by the wayside before the month is over.
The Giants have been clear about their goals for the 2024 MLB season and need to make sure they are hitting each one, or else the grumbling from an already-frustrated fanbase will grow louder and louder.
Here are four Giants New Year’s resolutions for the 2024 season.
Embrace some tradition
Giants fans long for the days of consistency.
If you’re spending hard-earned money on tickets, transportation, food, etc., you want to know who is in the lineup and on the mound that day. A completely fair expectation.
The opener strategy has proven to be effective, there’s no denying that. It is a very useful and crafty tool that does have a place in today’s game. So do platoons, which are neither new nor revolutionary. The Giants still should use these to their advantage when they see fit but in a much more limited capacity.
The Giants are well aware of the frustration amongst a large swathe of the fanbase regarding bullpen games and platoons, and are committed to embracing a more traditional approach next season.
Regardless of who San Francisco acquires throughout the remainder of the offseason, it’s time to keep things simple in 2024.
Let the kids play
The Giants missed out on their two top free-agent targets in Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Barring some unforeseen earth-shattering move this offseason, they likely will head into the 2024 season without a bonafide superstar on their roster.
Yes, fans will be excited to watch new center fielder Jung Hoo Lee play, or NL Cy Young Award finalist Logan Webb take the mound every fifth day. But there likely won’t be a superstar player walking through the door, even if the Giants were to sign Matt Chapman, Blake Snell, or Cody Bellinger.
However, there could be a few budding stars already on the roster.
Rookie shortstop Marco Luciano and starting pitcher Kyle Harrison, in particular, fit that bill. If the Giants secure a playoff spot next season, it likely will be because of the leap their youngsters take in their second or first full seasons.
It appears Luciano will be given a chance to be the team’s everyday shortstop on Opening Day, as he should. Harrison also should break camp in the major-league rotation after showing flashes of his sky-high potential last season. These two and catcher Patrick Bailey certainly could be the shot in the arm the Giants need in 2024.
Cut down on strikeouts
I mean, duh.
The Giants set a franchise record with 1,492 strikeouts in 2023 and had the seventh-most in all of baseball. They did so without the home run totals that oftentimes accompany a team’s free-swinging approach.
It was a major problem, and they will look to cut down on strikeouts significantly next season. Signing Lee, who has incredible bat-to-ball skills, certainly will help. But the Giants still have plenty of work to do in that department.
If the Giants don’t add major thumpers to the middle of their order, which they likely won’t, the lineup will need to develop a better contact approach in 2024.
Unhitch that trailer
One of the reasons the Giants were such an uninteresting team last season was their lack of speed and athleticism, something president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has emphasized time and time again as one of the team’s primary focus this offseason.
A team like the Arizona Diamondbacks should be the model. Young, athletic and blazing fast in the field and on the bases.
The Giants stole the least amount of bases (57) of any team in the league last season and were bad defensively. That’s a pretty uninspiring combination when you also are not blasting homers and driving in runs.
Thairo Estrada led the team with 24 stolen bases. Second place belonged to Michael Conforto … who had four.
San Francisco quite literally needs to hit the ground running next season.
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