CM – Why Giants ‘success in 2021 doesn’t surprise athletics’ David Forst

The 2021 MLB season wasn’t meant to be the year for the Giants to compete for a playoff spot.

All the pundits and pundits have called on the Giants to return to contention in 2022, at the earliest, but more likely in 2023, when the veterans’ contracts have expired and the next wave of prospects has arrived.

This Giants team clearly didn’t get that memo, as entering Game 2 of the Bay Bridge Series against the Athletics on Saturday, San Francisco held the MLB best record (49-26).

The NL West was to be a two-team race between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres. Instead, the Giants had a 4 1/2 game lead over both teams on Saturday.

Baseball operations president Farhan Zaidi transformed the Giants in just three years after leaving the Dodgers.

But before his stops in Los Angeles and San Francisco, Zaidi was a member of A’s front office with current Oakland CEO David Forst.

“Well, I don’t see that as a surprise at all,” Forst told NBC Sports California’s Brodie Brazil when asked if he was surprised by the Giants’ success this season. “We definitely know what Farhan is capable of and know how much work he’s done since he got there to put together this team. They have a great pitching staff and they’ve driven their starting pitchers to the best record in the league and deserves a lot of credit for making this team. “

The Giants’ pitching staff came on Saturday with a 3.18 ERA, third in the big leagues behind the Padres (3.11) and New York Mets (3.06).

The starting pitchers, led by NL’s Cy Young Award nominee Kevin Gausman, have a 3.08 ERA, again, good for third in baseball. The reliever box has a cumulative ERA of 3.32, which is fifth among all relief corps in the MLB.

After signing a qualifying offer with the Giants in the offseason, Gausman is enjoying a career year. In 96 2/3 innings over 15 starts, he has 112 strikeouts and a 1.49 ERA, which is second in MLB behind Jacob deGrom’s incredible 0.69 ERA.

Not only was the pitching staff top notch, the Giants’ offense was one of the best in baseball, led by resurgent seasons of Brandon Crawford and Buster Posey. San Francisco entered on Saturday with 112 home runs leading the MLB.

In addition to success at the major league level, Zaidi has built a strong minor league system, so the Giants should be able to maintain that momentum for a few years. And if they do, Forst certainly won’t be surprised at all.