San Francisco Giants: 5 Takeaways from the 2017 Season

There was a lot to take in during the San Francisco Giants’ 2017 season. Here are five takeaways from the season: some good, and most bad.

1 – Losing Smith was a Massive Blow

After experiencing disastrous results from their bullpen in 2016, the Giants hoped to be much-improved in that area in 2017, and lefty Will Smith was a big part of that hope. Smith was supposed to be that valuable southpaw coming out of the bullpen that could retire both righties and lefties. He never got the chance to prove what he could do.

Smith needed Tommy John Surgery in Spring Training, and the Giants sorely missed his presence in the bullpen. Steven Okert and Josh Osich tried to fill the void, but both struggled mightily in 2017.

Osich pitched to a 6.23 ERA and 1.731 WHIP while opponents hit .279/.380/.459 overall against him. As was the case in the previous year, Osich’s command failed him and he allowed 5.6 walks per nine innings. Okert wasn’t much better, posting a 5.67 ERA and 1.296 WHIP while opposing lefties hit .263/.328/.456 against him. He did improve in September, however, holding opponents to a .053/.143/.211 with six strikeouts in 5.2 innings.

Smith was extremely strong down the stretch for the Giants in 2016, striking out 12.8 batters per nine innings while lefties hit just .125 against him. He ended the regular season with 18 consecutive scoreless appearances, during which batters could muster only a .091 average and .307 OPS.

San Francisco suffered a lot of big blows, losing players to multiple injuries throughout the course of the year. Smith’s injury was the first, and was a huge loss.