Giants fire manager Gabe Kapler with 3 games left in his 4th season

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) The San Francisco Giants fired manager Gabe Kapler on Friday with three days left in the season and the club eliminated from the playoffs. It was the first managerial change of 2023.

San Francisco is 78-81 going into a season-ending series against the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The 48-year-old Kapler had a 295-248 record over four seasons guiding the Giants, but his only year with a winning record was 2021, when San Francisco won a franchise-record 107 games and the NL West title.

The Giants lost in the NL Division series that year to the Dodgers, then regressed to 81-81 last year.

“After making this recommendation to ownership and receiving their approval, I met with Gabe today to inform him of our decision,” Giants President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi said in a statement. “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.”

Kapler's first season with San Francisco was the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. He managed the Philadelphia Phillies for two years before that, going 161-163.

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