What we learned about the 2024 Giants

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.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Another subpar season has stirred big questions for the Giants, who are poised to enter the offseason with a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the organization.

Friday night’s 6-3 loss to the Cardinals at Oracle Park ensured that the Giants will finish without a winning record for the fifth time in six seasons under president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi. At 79-81, the Giants can finish no better than .500 in 2024, a less than satisfactory result for a team that had designs on returning to the postseason after spending big to upgrade its roster over the offseason.

Among the first questions the Giants will have to answer: Do they continue to trust Zaidi’s vision, or is it time to move in a different direction? Zaidi acknowledged his uncertain job status earlier this week, though his fate might not be determined until after the regular season ends.

Before decision day arrives, let’s take a look back at the highs and lows of the 2024 Giants:

Defining moment: A pivotal series loss to the Braves
The Giants stood only 1 1/2 games out of the third National League Wild Card spot when they opened a four-game series against the Braves -- the team they were chasing -- at Oracle Park on Aug. 12. But the Giants squandered a prime opportunity to gain ground, as they dropped three out of four games -- including back-to-back losses in 10 innings -- allowing Atlanta to build a 3 1/2-game lead in the standings by the end of the series.

“There are turning points in a season,” manager Bob Melvin said. “It seemed like that was one of them.”

What we learned: The Giants need more consistency in the rotation
San Francisco’s rotation was expected to be a strength, but the unit struggled to overcome injuries to Blake Snell, Alex Cobb, Robbie Ray, Keaton Winn and Tristan Beck in the first half, yielding a 4.49 ERA that ranked 23rd in the Majors. Pitching reinforcements finally arrived after the All-Star break, but it wasn’t enough to spark a much-needed run for the Giants, who never won more than five games in a row all season.

Logan Webb and Snell gave the Giants a formidable tandem down the stretch, but Ray made only seven starts after returning from Tommy John surgery, Jordan Hicks wore down in his first full season as a starter, and rookies Kyle Harrison, Mason Black and Hayden Birdsong endured their share of growing pains. The outlook for the group remains promising, but the Giants will need more production out of their starters to avoid overtaxing their bullpen like they did this year.

Best development: The youth movement
San Francisco finally has a solid core of young pitchers and position players to build around, as Heliot Ramos, Tyler Fitzgerald and Grant McCray became regulars on the field, and Harrison, Birdsong, Landen Roupp, Erik Miller and Randy Rodríguez emerged as valuable contributors on the mound. Marco Luciano and Luis Matos ended the season in the Minors, but they’re still viewed as big parts of the future and could have more chances to break through in 2025.

“I do look at a lot of the silver linings this year and the fact that I think that we’re going to go into next year with the best group of young players we’ve had on the roster since I’ve been here, both on the position player side and on the pitching side,” Zaidi said. “That’s really something to build on.”

Area for improvement: Timely hitting
All season long, it felt like the Giants were one big hit away from burying opponents, but they couldn’t cash in on enough opportunities, batting only .233 with runners in scoring position, which ranks 25th in the Majors. The Giants signed Jorge Soler to be their everyday cleanup hitter, but he struggled so mightily to drive in runs that the club ended up shipping him back to the Braves at the Trade Deadline.

On the rise: Heliot Ramos
Ramos was among the first wave of cuts in Spring Training, but he finally got an extended look in the Majors after the Giants were hit with a rash of injuries in May. Ramos made the most of the opportunity, earning his first career All-Star selection while batting .270 with a .794 OPS and 22 home runs over 120 games this year.

Team MVP: Matt Chapman
Chapman’s first season in San Francisco was such a rousing success that the Giants felt compelled to lock up their star third baseman to a six-year, $151 million contract extension earlier this month. Chapman, 31, has played in 152 of the club’s 160 games and leads the team with 27 home runs and a 7.0 bWAR, the second-highest mark in the NL behind Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani.

"I know this season didn't end the way we wanted it to, but we're building here and we're going to finish strong,” Chapman said after being named the 2024 Willie Mac Award winner on Friday. “Next year, we're going to start something, and we're not going to stop."