The Giants successfully recreated the 2014 season

There was also a note about how just three qualified hitters had an OPS of .900 or better, tied with 1976 for lowest of the live ball era. But seeing that trio of 2014s stacked on top of each other reminded me of this 30 Rock joke:

Somehow, Buster Posey and Zack Minasian have made it 2014 again through science or magic. The 2026 Giants look a lot like the last San Francisco squad to win the World Series. So, for comedy and trolling purposes, I took a look at the team statistics for both seasons (ranked by the 27 seasons in Oracle Park)…

Okay, so, there are really only some superficial similarities when it comes to the lineups and the pitching doesn't really twin out. The biggest, and most meaningful, difference is in the defense, where this putrid 2026 wound up being, effectively, 9 games worse than the 2014 team just from their poor glove work alone. This year's team was the second-worst of the Oracle Park era, behind only the Joc Pederson Giants of 2022 (-66.2).