Kurtenbach: 5 questions for SF Giants GM Scott Harris on the Dodgers, the minors, and tickets to Game 1

The 34-year-old Harris opens up about his role during the postseason, the Dodgers, and the job Gabe Kapler has done this year.

Before Game 1 of the National League Division Series between the 107-win Giants and 106-win Dodgers, I snagged a few moments with Giants general manager Scott Harris on the field at Oracle Park.

The 34-year-old Harris — a native of Redwood City — is in his second season as the Giants’ GM and his first with the organization playing games at every level.

I wanted to know what he’ll be doing during games, how busy his phone is with long-lost friends looking for tickets, and how the organization is looking top-to-bottom heading into one of the great postseason matchups in baseball history.

Harris is a diplomat by nature. He was hired, in part, to be a face of the franchise. He’s too savvy to dig himself or anyone else any holes. You might pick up some of that spin in his answers.

But when it comes to the stuff he really enjoys and can speak candidly about — the nitty-gritty of running a baseball team — and he lights up and will gladly talk for hours. Neither of us had hours, though, so this will have to suffice:

1. Who is somebody that pops into your mind when I say ‘unsung hero of this 107-win, record-retting year for the San Francisco Giants?’

I think when you went 107 games, you know, everyone’s sort of an unsung hero.

You need to squeeze every ounce of performance out of the roster to be able to win 107. You know, there’s a reason why the Giants have never done that in franchise history.

I think one group that sticks out to me is our bullpen. You know, there’s, there was a lot written about our bullpen early in the year. And even into the summer about whether this, this group can really perform at a high level. And I think you saw that. The bullpen continued to evolve throughout the summer. The ‘pen continued to perform throughout the summer and we ended up with one of the best bullpens in all of baseball.

And I think that’s a that’s a testament to how hard you know, Like Rog [Tyler Rogers] and Jake [McGee] and Alvie [José Álvarez] and Dom [Leone] and how hard all those guys work to make sure that, you know, when Kap handed them the ball, they were ready.”

2. What is the ticket situation been like in terms of folks from the Peninsula hitting you up to get into the game?

Exhausting, paralyzing, overwhelming.

Is that who you’ve been on the phone with, your Mom?

No, luckily everyone who wants tickets has been texting me. So I’ve been doing a lot of copying and pasting.

But no, it’s really fun for the area. I can’t believe the Dodgers haven’t faced the Giants in the playoffs.

It’s just a really it’s gonna be a fun weekend for the area and it’s great for baseball… You know, I think that the baseball community at large deserves to see this — a head-to-head matchup between the teams were the two best records in the regular season and, and teams with a storied history.

So it’s going to be a really fun weekend and I’m looking forward to it,

3. Everyone talks about analytics and to some it’s kind of the big boogeyman word. Obviously, you guys are analytically inclined, but players keep talking about Gabe [Kapler] and the human element of all of it. How important was it when Gabe came in to establish that human element?

I think one of the things that Gabe and his staff have done really well is they sought out partnerships with the players. So, you know, every time we approached a player with an idea or a recommendation or a drill, it started with ‘Hey, how do you feel about this?’

Or, ‘What have you done in the past to prepare yourself, and what if we tweak it in this way?’

And I think what we found with the players is they had a lot of great insights… they had a lot of great positive adjustments to the things that we had in our minds.

And I think Gabe and his staff did a really good job of not only asking questions to the players, but really processing the feedback they received from the players and letting that positively affect, you know, the drills or recommendations or adjustments that we were recommending to the player. So I think they’ve done a great job with that.

And I think Kap deserves a lot of credit for the way that he has managed such a big staff. You know the secret to a successful step coaching staff is not just the size of it or how it’s managed. It’s how the roles are defined and, carefully, we are making sure that everyone is filling each role to generate a dynamic in the dugout that is, you know, greater than the sum of the parts.

So the Kap deserves a lot of credit for how he has managed this staff and how he has gotten the most out of every talented individual that we have.

4. When Farhan came in here, the minor league system was an onus. You didn’t have a minor league season last year, just some weird thing in Sacramento. So how did the minor leagues go this year?

We’re very proud of the success we’ve had in the big leagues, we won games this year, but we’re just as proud of the developmental strides that we’ve made in the minor leagues. The San Jose Giants and the Eugene Emeralds, our low- and high-A affiliates finished with two of the highest strikeout totals among the pitching staffs and in all of Minor League Baseball.

We have several position players who have made huge strides this year. Not only in their top-line performance, but some of, some of their peripherals that we really care about and controlling the strike zone, and that’s been really important to us. And so I think Kyle Haynes and his entire player development staff deserve a ton of credit for continuing to shepherd, these talented young players towards Oracle Park, so that you know, what we’re doing here at the big league level is sustainable over the next five to 10 years.

You guys had a blueprint, but how much did not having a minor league season last year set this team back? Do you feel like you were able to kind of get back what you thought you needed to get back going into this full organizational season?

I think so.

I think we had to be very creative during COVID to try to find new ways to help these players continue their development. Most of these players are still in their formative years, right? Most of these players’ futures hinge on the work that they’re putting in right now.

And I think one of the things we learned from COVID is how proactive a lot of these players are. A lot of them got a lot better. A lot of them added some velocity. They added new pitch types. They added new versatility in the field. And a lot of them improved some of the mechanics of their swings to allow them to have more success this year.

A lot of the guys that have made those developmental strides that we were just talking about are the ones that put in the most work during COVID remotely with our player development staff on Zoom. Really proud of all the work they put in, and I’m really glad that they’re being rewarded for all that work this year.

That’s gotta be cool knowing that these guys are gonna work hard. I mean, that’s not something that necessarily will show up on the scouting report.

There’s been a lot written about our coaching staff and our player development group and the success that they’ve had with positively impacting players’ careers, but the majority of the credit for any positive advancement of a player’s career has to go to the player.

The player is the one actually doing the work.

The player is the one that’s open-minded enough to seek recommendations from coaches around them.

And, and the player is the one that’s determined enough to actually put into action to actually make the adjustments that are going to bring out their potential.

Again I’m just really proud of the infrastructure we have here and the coaches and analysts and scouts that are positively impacting the careers of these players, but I’m most proud of the players themselves and their ability to put in the work.

5. Friday night, first pitch, Logan Webb on the mound, where are you going to be in this ballpark? What will you be doing? What is game day in the playoffs like for Scott Harris?

That’s a good question. I haven’t been in the playoffs in San Francisco. I think I was a ball of stress in Chicago [in 2016].

It’s to be determined. I’m sure I’ll be in the GM suite, very stressed out and, and hoping we get some early runs on the board.

You and 40 thousand other people in here.