The 2021 San Francisco Giants were the surprise success story of MLB, and that surprise largely came from developing unheralded pitchers.
Under director of pitching Brian Bannister, a scrappy staff became one of the best in baseball. Longtime underachiever Kevin Gausman became an All-Star, and Logan Webb became one of the top young starters in the league, which Webb has largely credited to Bannister's coaching.
The staff has been without Bannister this year, though. In fact, they haven't worked with him in person since the start of the 2021 playoffs, as The Athletic reported Wednesday.