2024 record: 80-82 (4th place in NL West)
2025 record: 81-81 (3rd place in NL West)
2026 record: 65-97 (4th place in NL West)
Ever since the anomaly that was the Giants’ 2021 season, the team has been consistently average. From 2022 to 2025, they had two seasons where they finished exactly 81-81, with their other two seasons being one game under .500 (80-82) and two games under .500 (79-83), respectively. Something finally gave in 2026; the bodies of pretty much their entire roster, to be exact. The team finished the year with 24 players on the injured list, with 17 on the 60-day IL. They finished 65-97, and because of the injuries they suffered and the players they traded away at the deadline, the team tied the record for the most players used in a single season at 71. It’s not a great spot to be in regardless, but one benefit of using so many players is the auditions from otherwise fringe big leaguers, and you saw who’s worth holding on to and who’s worth moving on from.
Even with all those looks on fresh faces, the projected roster in 2029 doesn’t look too far off from what it looked like at the start of 2026. The three big vets in the lineup — Rafael Devers, Willy Adames, and Matt Chapman — are still under contract and will still be everyday players, even if the latter two can’t bounce back from their poor 2026 seasons. If they can’t, then Bryce Eldridge, Casey Schmitt, and Drew Gilbert taking steps forward could make up the difference, and if it gets especially bad for either of them, the Giants have a pair of young shortstops in Josuar Gonzalez and Luis Hernandez that will be ready by 2029 and can take their place. The rotation looks more suspect as staff ace Logan Webb’s contract ends after 2028, but there are enough rotation candidates that the Giants can still put together a good five, even if there aren’t many locks. Landen Roupp is the only true lock right now, but 2026 fourth-overall pick Jackson Flora should be a lock by 2029 as well.
It’s tough to buy in on a team that just lost nearly 100 games to make the playoffs, but in a way, this isn’t the same team. Matt Chapman missed half the season with an injury, and Willy Adames, Bryce Eldridge, and Casey Schmitt all missed a good chunk of time too. Unless the Giants suffer similar injury luck in 2029, they’ll do a lot better than 65-97.
2029 Lineups – Prospects Live
Offense
23rd – .245/.306/.400, 669 R, 178 HR, 88 SB, 449 BB, 1342 K
Bryce Eldridge (Photo Credit: mccoveychronicles.com)
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