The year 2020 brought unforeseen challenges for the Giants, who were forced to wade through constant streams of adversity over the course of the pandemic-shortened regular season. Like the world at large, San Francisco is hoping better things are in store for '21. Here are five questions facing the club as it looks ahead to the upcoming season:

Will the starting rotation hold up over a full season?
The Giants have prioritized patching holes in their starting rotation by bringing back Kevin Gausman on a one-year, $18.9 million qualifying offer and signing veteran Anthony DeSclafani to a one-year, $6 million deal, but there are still question marks surrounding an area of the roster that was a relative weakness in 2020.

Johnny Cueto and Logan Webb are projected to join Gausman and DeSclafani in the rotation, but Cueto logged a career-worst 5.40 ERA in 2020, and Webb battled command issues in his rookie campaign with San Francisco. The Giants will need both to be more effective next year, particularly Cueto, who will be entering the final guaranteed season of his six-year, $130 million contract.

“There were moments this past season where Johnny looked like he was going to regain the form that he had at the best moments of his career, and there were other times this season where he wasn’t his healthiest self,” manager Gabe Kapler said recently. “I think that he’d admit that he was pitching through little things. … I think we have a chance to see a healthy and driven and motivated Johnny Cueto. I know how hard he’s working right now in the [Dominican Republic]. That’s super exciting.”

Tyler Beede should be another rotation option after completing his rehab from Tommy John surgery, but he’s not expected to return until late May. Pitching prospects Sean Hjelle and Seth Corry are also on the rise, but president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has said he believes the Giants have room for more additions this offseason.

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Reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer remains the biggest name on the free-agent market, but the Giants could be more inclined to round out their depth chart with other buy-low bounceback candidates following their recent success with Gausman, Drew Smyly and Drew Pomeranz.

Will 2021 mark the end of an era for the veteran core?
Cueto won’t be the only prominent Giant entering a contract year. Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford and Buster Posey will be in the same boat as well, creating a potential swan song for a trio of players who were foundational pieces of San Francisco’s championship era.

Belt and Crawford are coming off resurgent seasons that suggested they’ll be able to remain productive contributors in the final year of their contracts. Posey elected to sit out the 2020 campaign and posted a career-low .688 OPS in '19, but Kapler has spoken glowingly about the 33-year-old’s improved fitness and the prospect of having his game-changing presence behind the plate next year. Could a fully rested body and new offensive philosophies espoused by the Giants’ hitting group help spark a rejuvenation for Posey, who has a $22 million team option for '22 with a $5 million buyout? There’s no question that Posey will open the season as San Francisco’s starting catcher, but a transition already appears underway following the debut of top prospect and heir apparent Joey Bart.

Are the playoffs a realistic goal?
The Giants fell one win shy of a postseason berth in 2020, finishing third in the NL West with a 29-31 record. Zaidi has said the goal will be to make the playoffs next year, but San Francisco will once again face tough competition within its division, given the presence of the talented Dodgers and Padres. A path to October will appear more viable if the expanded playoffs are here to stay, but the Giants still have work to do if they expect to remain competitive over 162 games in '21.

Will the bullpen continue to lean on young arms?
The Giants’ relatively inexperienced bullpen endured a few high-profile blowups in 2020, including a brutal stretch in which erstwhile closer Trevor Gott blew three consecutive ninth-inning leads. The group eventually coalesced behind strong campaigns from Tony Watson, Jarlin García, Tyler Rogers, Caleb Baragar and Sam Selman, but the struggles of Gott and Sam Coonrod underscored the club’s need for more dependable right-handed relief options.

The Giants took a step toward addressing that deficiency by signing veteran righties Matt Wisler and John Brebbia to one-year deals and selecting Dedniel Núñez from the Mets in the Rule 5 Draft in December. Reyes Moronta, who missed the entire 2020 season while rehabbing from right shoulder surgery, should also be back in '21 and could be the frontrunner to claim the closer role.

The free-agent market is packed with quality relievers, so the Giants could make other additions later in the offseason, but they also have a few promising internal options in pitching prospects Camilo Doval, Kervin Castro and Gregory Santos, all of whom were added to the club’s 40-man roster in November. Doval is the closest to the Majors of the trio and could receive a chance to compete for a bullpen spot during Spring Training.

Which other prospects might debut in 2021?
The cancellation of the Minor League season limited development opportunities for prospects up and down the Giants’ farm system in 2020, so it’s hard to predict how the lost reps will affect the timeline of young players who are coming through the pipeline. Zaidi has said he believes the organization could be conservative with its placement of prospects to start the season and then aggressively promote them once they show they can handle the competition at each level.

Outfielder Heliot Ramos, who is the club’s No. 3 prospect by MLB Pipeline, spent the summer working out at the Giants’ alternate training site in Sacramento, Calif., and reached Double-A Richmond in 2019, so he could be in line to make his Major League debut in '21. Given San Francisco’s needs in the rotation, the 6-foot-11 Hjelle could have a chance to contribute later in the summer as well.