The Biggest Winners and Losers of 2021 MLB Regular Season

The 2021 MLB season did not disappoint. There were a ton of surprises, from the San Francisco Giants’ consistency to the St. Louis Cardinals’ improbable late-season push.

There were also massive disappointments, such as the San Diego Padres’ failure to even compete for a National League wild-card spot and the Los Angeles Angels’ not being healthy enough to consider an American League West run.

The Chicago Cubs had an incredible fire sale.

The American League Central and National League East were uninspiring.

So with the end here, let’s go over the biggest winners and losers of this season as we get ready for the playoffs.

The hiring of Tony La Russa as manager was met with a lot of criticism, but the Chicago White Sox ended up right where they expected. The Sox proved to be the only AL Central team worthy of postseason consideration and match up well against the Houston Astros, their American League Division Series opponent.

White Sox starters rank in the top five in ERA and WHIP. Their relievers have the best strikeout-to-walk percentage of any group.

It will be interesting to see how the White Sox mix up their pitching against the Astros, who won five of the teams’ seven meetings.

The White Sox put a playoff-like bullpen outing together Friday night against the Detroit Tigers, as Garrett Crochet, Ryan Tepera, Craig Kimbrel and Liam Hendriks combined to throw four scoreless innings in their fifth straight win.

The Astros swept the White Sox in June, when they played a four-game series in Houston.

A month later in Chicago, the White Sox took two of three. Lucas Giolito (complete game) and Carlos Rodon (one hit over seven innings) were dominant in those last two games, and they’ll need those kind of performances to advance to the American League Championship Series.

This was supposed to be a breakout season for the Padres. They made all the moves to bolster their rotation, acquiring Yu Darvish, Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove in the offseason, and the lineup was already understood to be one of the best in baseball with Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado leading the way.

But the Padres are 27-42 since the All-Star break, and their once-firm grip on a National League wild-card berth faded quickly as they were eliminated from the postseason in late September.

It’s a far cry from once being 18 games above .500 and competing with the Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers for the National League West title.

The pitching staff could not stay healthy and underperformed.

A dugout argument between Tatis and Machado revealed underlying discord.

Now there are serious questions about whether general manager A.J. Preller and manager Jayce Tingler should keep their jobs.

“We were hungry for more, and there is no more,” one Padres fan told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “No playoffs—it’s disappointing. It’s a gut punch.”

The Giants should take a bow. Few, if anyone, believed they had this in them. San Francisco entered the season with questions about whether it could win with this rotation and a collection of aging veterans.

The Giants’ Opening Day roster featured 10 hitters over the age of 30, and Wilmer Flores turned 30 in August. Still, the lineup has been great.

San Francisco is in the top five in many advanced batting statistics despite barely being league average in hard hit rate. Only the Dodgers have a higher fly ball percentage, and only the Toronto Blue Jays have a higher home run percentage, according to Baseball Reference.

Buster Posey returned—after not playing in 2020 and having the worst season of his career in 2019—to slash .302/.388/.499.

Their pitching staff, anchored by starters Logan Webb, Kevin Gausman and Anthony DeSclafani, also boasts the second-lowest WHIP and has given up the second-fewest runs behind the Dodgers’.

This Giants group tied a franchise record Friday with 106 wins and has one final shot to rewrite the record books if it wins Sunday.

Remember when fans thought the Angels would win the American League West?

It did not exactly pan out that way. The Angels, without two of their best players in Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon for 104 games, were no better than the Detroit Tigers.

The only bright side in Anaheim was that in Shohei Ohtani’s fourth year, we finally really saw “Sho Time.” For the first time, Ohtani made more than 10 starts and had over 425 plate appearances.

He became the first player in American League history with 45 home runs, 25 stolen bases and 100 runs. He also leads the majors with eight triples.

But Ohtani has made it clear he wants more than individual accolades and fanfare. He will hit the open market after the 2023 season, and the Angels can’t afford to waste time.

“I really like the team. I love the fans. I love the atmosphere of the team,” Ohtani told reporters via an interpreter. “But, more than that, I want to win. That’s the biggest thing for me. I’ll leave it at that.”

Remember when fans thought the Angels would win the American League West?

It did not exactly pan out that way. The Angels, without two of their best players in Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon for 104 games, were no better than the Detroit Tigers.

The only bright side in Anaheim was that in Shohei Ohtani’s fourth year, we finally really saw “Sho Time.” For the first time, Ohtani made more than 10 starts and had over 425 plate appearances.

He became the first player in American League history with 45 home runs, 25 stolen bases and 100 runs. He also leads the majors with eight triples.

But Ohtani has made it clear he wants more than individual accolades and fanfare. He will hit the open market after the 2023 season, and the Angels can’t afford to waste time.

“I really like the team. I love the fans. I love the atmosphere of the team,” Ohtani told reporters via an interpreter. “But, more than that, I want to win. That’s the biggest thing for me. I’ll leave it at that.”

Remember when fans thought the Angels would win the American League West?

It did not exactly pan out that way. The Angels, without two of their best players in Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon for 104 games, were no better than the Detroit Tigers.

The only bright side in Anaheim was that in Shohei Ohtani’s fourth year, we finally really saw “Sho Time.” For the first time, Ohtani made more than 10 starts and had over 425 plate appearances.

He became the first player in American League history with 45 home runs, 25 stolen bases and 100 runs. He also leads the majors with eight triples.

But Ohtani has made it clear he wants more than individual accolades and fanfare. He will hit the open market after the 2023 season, and the Angels can’t afford to waste time.

“I really like the team. I love the fans. I love the atmosphere of the team,” Ohtani told reporters via an interpreter. “But, more than that, I want to win. That’s the biggest thing for me. I’ll leave it at that.”

Remember when fans thought the Angels would win the American League West?

It did not exactly pan out that way. The Angels, without two of their best players in Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon for 104 games, were no better than the Detroit Tigers.

The only bright side in Anaheim was that in Shohei Ohtani’s fourth year, we finally really saw “Sho Time.” For the first time, Ohtani made more than 10 starts and had over 425 plate appearances.

He became the first player in American League history with 45 home runs, 25 stolen bases and 100 runs. He also leads the majors with eight triples.

But Ohtani has made it clear he wants more than individual accolades and fanfare. He will hit the open market after the 2023 season, and the Angels can’t afford to waste time.

“I really like the team. I love the fans. I love the atmosphere of the team,” Ohtani told reporters via an interpreter. “But, more than that, I want to win. That’s the biggest thing for me. I’ll leave it at that.”

Remember when fans thought the Angels would win the American League West?

It did not exactly pan out that way. The Angels, without two of their best players in Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon for 104 games, were no better than the Detroit Tigers.

The only bright side in Anaheim was that in Shohei Ohtani’s fourth year, we finally really saw “Sho Time.” For the first time, Ohtani made more than 10 starts and had over 425 plate appearances.

He became the first player in American League history with 45 home runs, 25 stolen bases and 100 runs. He also leads the majors with eight triples.

But Ohtani has made it clear he wants more than individual accolades and fanfare. He will hit the open market after the 2023 season, and the Angels can’t afford to waste time.

“I really like the team. I love the fans. I love the atmosphere of the team,” Ohtani told reporters via an interpreter. “But, more than that, I want to win. That’s the biggest thing for me. I’ll leave it at that.”

Remember when fans thought the Angels would win the American League West?

It did not exactly pan out that way. The Angels, without two of their best players in Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon for 104 games, were no better than the Detroit Tigers.

The only bright side in Anaheim was that in Shohei Ohtani’s fourth year, we finally really saw “Sho Time.” For the first time, Ohtani made more than 10 starts and had over 425 plate appearances.

He became the first player in American League history with 45 home runs, 25 stolen bases and 100 runs. He also leads the majors with eight triples.

But Ohtani has made it clear he wants more than individual accolades and fanfare. He will hit the open market after the 2023 season, and the Angels can’t afford to waste time.

“I really like the team. I love the fans. I love the atmosphere of the team,” Ohtani told reporters via an interpreter. “But, more than that, I want to win. That’s the biggest thing for me. I’ll leave it at that.”

Remember when fans thought the Angels would win the American League West?

It did not exactly pan out that way. The Angels, without two of their best players in Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon for 104 games, were no better than the Detroit Tigers.

The only bright side in Anaheim was that in Shohei Ohtani’s fourth year, we finally really saw “Sho Time.” For the first time, Ohtani made more than 10 starts and had over 425 plate appearances.

He became the first player in American League history with 45 home runs, 25 stolen bases and 100 runs. He also leads the majors with eight triples.

But Ohtani has made it clear he wants more than individual accolades and fanfare. He will hit the open market after the 2023 season, and the Angels can’t afford to waste time.

“I really like the team. I love the fans. I love the atmosphere of the team,” Ohtani told reporters via an interpreter. “But, more than that, I want to win. That’s the biggest thing for me. I’ll leave it at that.”

Remember when fans thought the Angels would win the American League West?

It did not exactly pan out that way. The Angels, without two of their best players in Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon for 104 games, were no better than the Detroit Tigers.

The only bright side in Anaheim was that in Shohei Ohtani’s fourth year, we finally really saw “Sho Time.” For the first time, Ohtani made more than 10 starts and had over 425 plate appearances.

He became the first player in American League history with 45 home runs, 25 stolen bases and 100 runs. He also leads the majors with eight triples.

But Ohtani has made it clear he wants more than individual accolades and fanfare. He will hit the open market after the 2023 season, and the Angels can’t afford to waste time.

“I really like the team. I love the fans. I love the atmosphere of the team,” Ohtani told reporters via an interpreter. “But, more than that, I want to win. That’s the biggest thing for me. I’ll leave it at that.”

Remember when fans thought the Angels would win the American League West?

It did not exactly pan out that way. The Angels, without two of their best players in Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon for 104 games, were no better than the Detroit Tigers.

The only bright side in Anaheim was that in Shohei Ohtani’s fourth year, we finally really saw “Sho Time.” For the first time, Ohtani made more than 10 starts and had over 425 plate appearances.

He became the first player in American League history with 45 home runs, 25 stolen bases and 100 runs. He also leads the majors with eight triples.

But Ohtani has made it clear he wants more than individual accolades and fanfare. He will hit the open market after the 2023 season, and the Angels can’t afford to waste time.

“I really like the team. I love the fans. I love the atmosphere of the team,” Ohtani told reporters via an interpreter. “But, more than that, I want to win. That’s the biggest thing for me. I’ll leave it at that.”

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