Six Takeaways From the San Francisco Giants’ 2025 Season

On the other side, Devers similarly got off to a slow start. While the overall numbers aren’t the superstar numbers we’re used to with Devers, he still mashed. In 90 games with San Francisco, he launched 20 long balls for a 126 wRC+.

Safe to say both guys will be just fine hitting during their tenure with the Giants. For now, San Francisco is no longer the ballpark where hitters go to die.

Landen Roupp Is a Legit Big-League Starter

Heading into spring training, who the Giants fifth starter would be was the most interesting position battle by far. The majority of fans thought it would be Kyle Harrison or Hayden Birdsong. The former being the top left-handed pitching prospect in baseball just a year ago while the latter was a rising young arm with overpowering stuff.

However, it ended up being Landen Roupp winning that spot and at the end of the day, running away with it. After a strong spring, he posted a 3.80 ERA in 106.2 innings in 2025 and acted as the team’s number three starter for the majority of the season.

With Justin Verlander having a rough first half and Jordan Hicks getting the boot from the rotation, Roupp stepped up in a big way. In his last two starts of the year, he gave up a combined 10 earned runs in 5.1 innings. However, he was dealing with some lingering injuries and eventually finished the year on the IL.

While it doesn’t take those two outings away, if you get rid of those starts, you get a 3.11 ERA in the right-handers first full big league season. As a matter of fact, Roupp was one of the best starters in baseball for a month long stretch.

The Outfield Defense Needs to Take a Step Forward

While Mike Yastrzemski mitigated some of the outfield defense issues early in the year, once he was traded, there was no hiding them. For Heliot Ramos and Jung Hoo Lee, it was a year to forget in the difficult outfield that is Oracle Park.

Lee gets a bit of grace as he is still figuring out Major League Baseball. However, a -18 DRS and -5 OAA is not going to cut it at any level and seriously affected his WAR totals. With how well the glove was in the KBO, you’d expect the “Grandson of the Wind” to be a bit better while manning center field.

Ramos, on the other hand, was a bit more shocking. In his breakout season of 2024, he was a positive defender in left field. He posted 4 DRS and 1 OAA and looked strong out there. However, Ramos’ 2025 provided one of the biggest defensive drop-offs you’ll ever see from a player.

His -11 FRV was the third worst mark in all of baseball, only better than Juan Soto and Nick Castellanos. Nobody wants to be grouped with those two names when talking defense but especially someone who has shown they can defend at an above-average level.

Hopefully, a full offseason focusing on the defensive side can turn things around for the two young outfielders. If that happens, both of their WAR totals should balloon as they both have above-average bats according to wRC+.

Buster Posey Is an Aggressive POBO Who’s Not Afraid To Go for It

Once he was officially hired as the Giants decision maker after the conclusion of the 2024 season, there were a lot of questions about bringing in an ex-player to call the shots. A lot of people around baseball pointed to Derek Jeter with the Marlins as a recent case of it not necessarily working out.

However, up to this point, Posey has shown that players that have a real focus on winning can be successful in the position. Since the beginning, he has been outspoken about wanting to win immediately.

Fittingly, that’s exactly how he’s operated. Just a few weeks after being named the president of baseball operations, he went out and signed the second best free agent available in Adames. For a team that had repeatedly missed out on major free agents, this was a big development.

He then went on to trade for Devers a month and a half before the trade deadline. Knowing that it would be hard to ever get a bat of that caliber to sign with this franchise, he gave Devers no choice but to put on the orange and black.

His most recent move might be the biggest sign that he’s not waiting around for winning baseball to return to San Francisco. After two seasons right at or below .500, Posey let go of Melvin and is searching for his new manager. It’s clear Posey is aggressive and has no fear when it comes to making the big decision.

Bryce Eldridge Looks Like the Future of The Franchise

Heading into 2025, there was no question whether Bryce Eldridge was the top prospect in the organization. In his first full season of pro ball (2024) he played at four different levels, finishing the year in Triple-A Sacramento (played in Arizona Fall League as well).

Simply put, there were a lot of expectations for the former 16th overall pick who was going to be just 20 years old for the entirety of 2025.

It’s safe to say that Eldridge met those expectations and depending on who you ask, outperformed them. In 102 games between Double and Triple-A, Eldridge hit 25 home runs with some absurd advanced metrics. When you look at Triple-A specifically, you see a 62.7% hard hit rate with an average exit velocity of 95.7 mph.

This led to Eldridge making his MLB debut at just 20 years old and spending the last two weeks with the big league club. While the numbers don’t look great in just 37 plate appearances, he was still hitting the ball as hard as the league’s best.

It is an extremely small sample, but he posted an average exit velocity of 95.6 mph, which is second to only Oneil Cruz. He also had an absurd hard hit rate of 68.8%, which would’ve led the big leagues. It’s safe to say that a lineup headlined by Eldridge and Devers is going to be a scary sight for opposing pitchers in the coming years.

The Entire Pitching Staff Needs A Lot of Help

When you look at some of the big names who will be in San Francisco’s rotation next season, you would think they have a solid staff. Logan Webb led the National League in innings and strikeouts, Robbie Ray was an All-Star, and Roupp is coming off of what some people would call a breakout season.

However, behind them, there’s not a ton of exciting depth. Down the stretch when the Giants had a shot at the third Wild Card spot, they had Kai-Wei Teng and Carson Seymour starting important games for them. No knock to those arms, but you’d feel a bit better with a solid veteran on the bump when your season’s on the line.

While top prospect Carson Whisenhunt is waiting in the wings, there’s legit questions about whether he has any other big league pitches outside of his changeup. It’s no secret that Posey has his work cut out for him when it comes to adding some talented arms to the middle of this rotation and a return for Justin Verlander is certainly in the cards.

When we turn to the bullpen, it’s a similar story. Randy Rodriguez was the best reliever in baseball in the first half while Erik Miller, Tyler Rodgers, and Camilo Doval were all very good supporting arms. However, with Rodgers and Doval both dealt at the deadline, Rodriguez going under the knife for Tommy John, and Miller spending the entire second half on the IL, what looked like the best bullpen in baseball quickly looked like a shell of itself.

Not to mention, after being one of the best relievers in the game in 2024, Ryan Walker saw serious regression in 2025. While his numbers outside of the ninth inning are encouraging, this group still needs a lot of work if San Francisco wants to contend in 2026.

Final Thoughts

With it being a season full of highs and lows for the Giants, it’s only fitting that we have several positive takeaways with some important negative ones. There are several reasons for Giants fans to be optimistic heading into 2026.

This team finally has a core headlined by Rafael Devers, Willy Adames, and Matt Chapman while Bryce Eldridge and Landen Roupp look like young players blossoming into potential stars.

However, for an organization that preaches pitching and defense, the outfield was one of the worst defensive groups in baseball while the pitching staff fell apart in the second half. Buster Posey undoubtedly has his hands full heading into his second winter as president of baseball operations with the opportunity to do some exciting things in San Francisco.