Gabe Kapler is your 2021 NL Manager of the Year.
In just his second season as Giants manager, Kapler turned the fortunes of the franchise, taking them from a middle of the pack team to the best record in all of baseball.
The Giants were projected by ESPN to finish 75-87 prior to the 2021 season. Instead, Kapler led San Francisco to their first division title since 2012 with a 107-55 record.
“I think he deserves to win Manager of the Year,” Giants general manager Scott Harris recently said. “I think he did a phenomenal job. The results speak for themselves. I think Kap’s pregame preparation is excellent, but what makes Kap special is his commitment to making adjustments to new information from coaches, players and what the game is telling him.”
And how fitting that on MLB Network, the man Kapler replaced, Bruce Bochy, who won three World Series’ in San Francisco, was the one to announce Kapler as the recipient of the award.
“That was really awesome,” said Kapler. “I didn’t know Boch was going to be presenting the award on MLB Network and he just sort of appeared on my screen and I was like, ‘There’s Boch, that’s probably a good sign.”’
The Giants took a step towards respectability in 2020, going 29-31 in the shortened 60-game season and barely missing the playoffs. But Kapler led them somewhere they hadn’t been since 2016; to the postseason.
Kapler becomes the second Giants manager to win the award, something Dusty Baker, who was a finalist in the AL, accomplished three times.
“It’s probably a little bit hard to believe, but I’m thinking back to a moment where Buster and Evan Longoria, Brandon Belt, some of the veterans, Craw, that we mentioned. Those guys set the tone to win the National League West. We had no interest in trying to sneak into the postseason via the Wild Card,” Kapler said. “So at that point I felt like we had the right kind of winning, unselfish mindset, and I think we just started to support it at that point and throw all of our resources behind supporting that vision that those guys had.”
The Giants ultimately lost the NLDS to the Dodgers in five games, but that doesn’t take the joy out of the moment for Kapler. Nor does it put a damper on what he accomplished. The stars aligned for San Francisco and they put together the club’s first winning season since 2016.
For more MLB coverage, click here.
