5 resolutions for Giants in the new year

This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado’s Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The arrival of the new year is a popular time for self-reflection, giving many of us a chance to look back and identify which areas we want to strive to improve moving forward. A similar process is currently underway for the Giants, who have spent the offseason trying to address the shortcomings that have resulted in back-to-back disappointing seasons for the club.

Here are five resolutions that could help San Francisco rebound in 2024:

1. Score more runs for Webb

Logan Webb was the biggest bright spot of the Giants’ 2023 campaign, as the 27-year-old right-hander placed second in the National League Cy Young race after posting a 3.25 ERA over a Major League-high 216 innings. Still, the Giants struggled to consistently support Webb’s stellar performances, going only 15-18 in his 33 starts and scoring two or fewer runs in 22 of those outings.

Webb ended the year with the lowest run support average (3.21) of any qualified starter in baseball, so the Giants will have to do a better job of backing their homegrown ace in 2024. Webb went 9-1 when receiving at least three runs of support last year, further underscoring why the Giants can ill afford to let their offense disappear when he’s on the mound.

2. Add to the front of the rotation

The Giants pushed hard for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, only to watch the Japanese star join Shohei Ohtani on the Dodgers last month. It’ll be hard to soften the blow of losing their top two free-agent targets to their biggest rival, but there are still several pitchers out there who could help fortify the Giants’ starting rotation, including Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Shōta Imanaga and Marcus Stroman.

• Get to know Shōta Imanaga

President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has said he believes the Giants are more likely to acquire a starting pitcher via free agency, though a few frontline starters remain available on the trade market, including the Brewers’ Corbin Burnes and the White Sox’s Dylan Cease. Loading up on elite arms might be the best way for the Giants to counter the Dodgers' star-studded lineup, so they'll have to continue to explore all avenues to find a co-ace for Webb who can boost their run prevention efforts.

3. Clean up the defense

The Giants have tried to prioritize offense over defense in recent years, but that approach largely backfired in 2023, when they led the Majors with 117 errors. Those miscues often proved costly and undermined the greatest strength of their pitching staff, which posted an MLB-high 48.7% ground-ball rate last year.

Determined to reverse this trend, the Giants have put an emphasis on upgrading their defense and athleticism this offseason. They took their first step toward achieving this goal by signing Korean center fielder Jung Hoo Lee, but they could still pursue other premier defenders such as four-time Gold Glove winner Matt Chapman this winter.

4. Be more aggressive on the basepaths

Base stealers had an all-time best 80.2% success rate this past season, but the Giants failed to capitalize on the new rules that were meant to promote more action on the basepaths. They finished last in the Majors with 57 stolen bases -- 16 fewer than Ronald Acuña Jr. single-handedly swiped for the Braves in 2023.

San Francisco’s only true basestealing threat was Thairo Estrada, who led the club with 23 stolen bases, so it’ll need to add more speed to its roster to keep up with younger and more athletic teams like the D-backs, who quite literally ran circles around the Giants in 2023.

5. Find more shortstop depth

The Giants hope No. 2 prospect Marco Luciano will be able to succeed Brandon Crawford as their everyday shortstop in 2024, but they know they’ll have to have some contingency plans in place in case things don’t pan out as expected.

The free-agent class is fairly thin on shortstops, but there are some established options who are viewed as trade candidates, including the Brewers’ Willy Adames and the Padres’ Ha-Seong Kim.