The San Francisco Giants have parted ways with skipper Gabe Kapler ahead of the team's series against their longtime Golden State rivals in what will be the final games of the 2023 regular season.
The team announced Friday afternoon that Kapler, 48, was dismissed from his position as the Giants' manager. He was originally hired to lead the team in 2019.
“After making this recommendation to ownership and receiving their approval, I met with Gabe today to inform him of our decision,” said Giants President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi in a prepared statement.
“In his tenure as Giants manager, Gabe led our team through an unprecedented pandemic in 2020 and a franchise-record 107 wins and postseason berth in 2021. He has been dedicated and passionate in his efforts to improve the on-field performance of the San Francisco Giants and I have tremendous respect for him as a colleague and friend.”
The #SFGiants announced that the club has dismissed manager Gabe Kapler.
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) September 29, 2023
The organization's decision to axe Kapler is an about-face from the stance taken by Zaidi and Giants chairman Greg Johnson earlier in the month. Both men told the San Francisco Chronicle they supported Kapler's leadership, and Johnson said at the time that he expected Kapler to stay with the team at least until his contract expired in 2024.
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Kapler led the Giants to the playoffs in 2021 and a franchise-record 107 wins, but the San Francisco team has struggled to perform at the same caliber in recent outings.
This year, the Giants suffered a string of costly defeats during their final road trip of the regular season and ultimately lost 28 of their last 34 away games. The losing streak led pitching ace Logan Webb to call for significant shifts in the team and its approach to the game.
"I'm tired of losing."
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 26, 2023
Logan Webb isn't concerned with the Cy Young talk. He just wants to win 😤 pic.twitter.com/3GYsgtgEqS
“I’m tired of losing," Webb said. “It's not enjoyable, it's not fun. We've got to make some big changes in here to create that winning culture that we want to show up every single year and try to win the whole thing.”
The SF ball club is 78-81 going into its series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Giants would need to sweep the current NL West champions to finish off the regular season with a .500 winning percentage.
