The Giants' 2026 Season Wrap-up

I went to three home games during the final week of the Giants' season. They lost all three. Each one left me with the familiar feeling that a win had been within reach, and that somehow we had found our way to another loss. The Division Series is getting more interesting now, but the Giants' season ended in September.

The Giants finished 65-97, just three losses short of a hundred. When I wrote about the Summertime Celebration in July, the season was already disappointing, but I could still see a few reasons to hope the second half would tell us something better. By the end, I was still looking for those signs. Baseball gives its fans plenty of practice at losing, and I truly believe that learning to accept losses is one of the game's virtues. What made this season especially difficult for me was how little progress I could see along the way.

By the final week, injuries and trades had left the active roster without a single member of the Opening Day lineup. Some of the younger players gave us something to look forward to, but I am cautious about how much to take from September. Teams are playing with different priorities by then, and I cannot assume every opponent is approaching these games with the same seriousness. I would love to see those young players build on this next year, over a longer stretch and with something at stake.

The problems that had made the summer so frustrating were still there. The bullpen remained awful, and the offense too often scored so few runs that even one mistake on the mound could cost us the game. I could not trust us to hold a small lead, and even a small deficit felt difficult to overcome. By the final week, I had seen those situations end badly so often that it was hard to expect a different result.

Jung Hoo Lee had a relatively good season within that team, but I had hoped for more from him too. He finished with a .276 average, 10 home runs, and a .724 OPS. His average had been above .330 in June, with an OPS in the low .800s. There were stretches when he looked capable of becoming a much more consistent presence in the lineup. The final numbers did not quite reflect that promise. I do not think his season was a failure, but I also do not think it settled the questions about how much more he can contribute.

In an interview I watched in Korean, Lee said that he needed to be improved mentally. He described the pressure he put on himself when things were going badly and how difficult it became to maintain his confidence. However, I wonder whether more of the answer should lie in his physical and technical preparation. When a player cannot reliably repeat what works, frustration may follow from that inconsistency. I cannot separate those things confidently from the stands, and Lee knows his own experience better than I do. Still, I would like to see what changes in his preparation next spring, as well as in how he handles a difficult week.

That thought extends to the team as a whole. These are major league players who have already shown they belong at this level. I want to see a team prepared to excel every day, with the ambition to dominate the league. Over a long season, small differences in conditioning, preparation, and execution can become a very large difference in the standings. Too often, the Giants looked as though they were on the wrong side of those margins.

I am outside the organization. I do not see the work in the clubhouse or the conversations between players and coaches, so I cannot tell anyone how much these people care. What I can describe is what reached me as a fan. This year, I rarely felt the team's energy or urgency. I wanted to see a group pushing itself toward something, with a clearer sense of how it intended to win. Even when individual players had good days, that larger feeling was hard to find.

I still like Tony Vitello. The way he came down to meet fans at the Summertime Celebration mattered to me, and a bad season does not erase that. But after a full year, I still struggle to describe his baseball. During that last week, Drew Cavanaugh's squeeze put us ahead 1-0 against Minnesota. I was watching it from Section 125, and I liked seeing them create a run that way. For a moment, I could imagine a more active team, finding ways to make something happen with the players it had. The game ended in another loss, and the moment remained a glimpse. I want to see those choices develop into something we can recognize from one game to the next.

Two scenes have stayed with me as the season has given way to October. The first was Oracle Park during the final weekend against the Dodgers. There was so much white in the stands that it felt like their home. I felt like a squatter in our own ballpark, occupying a small corner of a place that seemed to belong to someone else. It was miserable to feel that out of place at Oracle Park, watching our biggest rival make itself at home.

The other is Tyler Mahle in an Atlanta uniform. He went 3-9 with a 5.13 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP for San Francisco, then 4-1 with a 1.99 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP for Atlanta. He is scheduled to start Game 4 of the NLDS against the Dodgers in Atlanta on October 7. We are trying to understand another season that went nowhere, while a pitcher we traded away is being trusted with a game in October.

There is at least one concrete change to consider: Atlanta increased his splitter usage from 25.1% to 38.5%. That alone does not explain the entire improvement. The sample is smaller, and opponents, health, and ordinary variation can all matter. I can understand why a losing team would trade a veteran. What I want to understand is whether Atlanta found something the Giants could have found too. What changed in how he was prepared and used? I would like to hear an answer from someone who knows. It might tell us more about what this organization needs to change than another general promise to improve.

This was my third year as a Giants season ticket member, and I have already renewed for next year. I know what I am signing up for. No team wins every day. But I do want to see the organization learn from a year like this. That responsibility belongs to the players, the coaches, the staff, and the front office. As fans, we have something to think about too. We can keep supporting the team while being clear about what we expect from it.

I will be back at Oracle Park next spring. I have a few Giants jerseys, all authentic, and I would like to buy another with a new player's name on the back. I still love my Lincecum jersey from the 2010 World Series, but I don't want to keep reaching for it because the current team gives me so little to feel good about. Those were good days, and I am glad to remember them. But, next year, please let me have a new name.