Giants manager Gabe Kapler is a finalist for National League Manager of the Year. According to longtime MLB analyst Chris Rose of Jomboy Media, Kapler not only should win it, but should do so in a landslide.
“Should be unanimous,” Rose said on Papa & Lund Tuesday. “This was a team that was projected, probably at best, to get low 80s in terms of wins, but a distant, distant third behind the Dodgers and Padres. And for them to get 107 wins? C’mon. I don’t know what else you are looking at.”
Since the award was created in 1983, there has never been a unanimous winner in the National League.
The Giants no only exceeded all expectations in 2021, they did so with massive assistance from the coaching staff that Kapler put together two years ago. Players consistently talked about feeling more prepared than they ever have while playing for Kapler, and the results bore that out.
In nearly every facet of the game, the Giants excelled. San Francisco led the NL in OPS (.769), home runs (262), were second in ERA (3.24) WHIP (1.15), had the leagues best record with 107 wins and the second best run differential (+210). Also, in another example of good coaching, the Giants 34 runs saved due to the shift was the most in MLB.
Rose also believes that there was a snub among the other NL nominees.
“(Craig) Counsell always does a remarkable (in Milwaukee), particularly with a lackluster offense. (Mike) Shildt the third one because of that ridiculous winning streak (the Cardinals) went on. I do want to give him some credit for that absolutely, but I actually would have Brian Snitker there in the top three, not that he should have won.”
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Listen to the full interview below.