The Giants made a couple of significant signings in the offseason to shore up an outfield that was decimated by the end of last season. The two OF's they signed, Michael Conforto and Mitch Haniger are very good players when healthy but they both have significant injury histories. So let's check in on how it's shaking out this spring.
Conforto and Haniger have both looked good a the plate but Haniger is nursing a grade 1 oblique strain and will likely start the season on the IL but that should be a short stay. Of greater concern is CF where Mike Yastrzemski and Austin Slater seemed like a nice platoon team. Slater has a cranky elbow and now a hammy strain and will also likely start the season on the IL.
For his part, YtY seems healthy but has looked terrible at the plate with a slash line of .063/.250/.188. One commenter who saw him in person noted the swings looked weak and the body language negative. This might not be concerning if he was coming off a couple of solid seasons but YtY has not looked right since 2020 and we really have to start wondering if he is just done.
Veteran Steven Piscotty made some noise early in camp but is now also out with a strain somewhere. His fielding metrics are not great and he is limited to corner OF.
Heliot Ramos is the only other potential CF on the 40-man roster but clearly needs to get his feet on the ground in AAA. Bryce Johnson has emerged as an intriguing option as the new rules appear to favor his slap and dash style. The Rules Committee is meeting this week to discuss some tweaks so it remains to be seen if that apparent advantage will hold up. In the meantime, Johnson is looking like a possibility to start the season on the active roster. As a switch-hitter, he is currently the only healthy OF in camp who can bat righthanded.
Blake Sabol was primarily on OF until last season and the Giants wanted him to focus solely on catching. The injuries seem to have opened up an alternate path to the Opening Day roster as an OF. The bat looks real but can he field either position?
Luis Matos looked good in camp but has not played above A+ ball and needs to find traction at the minor league level before considering him for a MLB job.
What is the ETA of the first starting outfielder drafted and developed by the current management? Later this season? Next year?
ReplyDeleteWell, Bryce Johnson could debut as early as Opening Day. How long he sticks around is another question. After that I would say Vaun Brown is next in line and after that Luis Matos. Heliot Ramos is a wild card and depends on a bounceback at AAA level.
DeleteExcited about Luis Matos I really think he has more tools to be a viable major league player than anyone else in the Giants system.
ReplyDelete- Fan
2019 opening day featured an outfield of Conner Joe, Michael Reed, and Steve Duggar, and we know how that ended: career total combined bWAR is 4.2.
ReplyDeleteNo matter what happens this year, it will be better than that, but it would be nice if the Giants could develop an outfielder someday.
Matos, Brown, McCray, Pomares? None of them is expected before 2024. Matos and Pomares have fallen, and the other 2 are untested.
Ramos, Bishop, Shaw, Williamson, Parker, and a different Brown were once heralded, and a few, notably Reynolds, were traded away.
Bryan Murphy in McCovey Chronicles has an interesting take on 36-year old shortstops. It's not pretty, https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2023/3/21/23650488/injuries-brandon-crawford-knee-mitch-haniger-oblique-austin-slater-hamstring-san-francisco-giants
Thanks, Doc. I was thinking the current management team. Johnson was drafted in the same year as Ramos, I believe, by the previous team. So, Van Brown would be the first.
ReplyDeleteI am watching the game (Dodgers) right now. I flash back to something Herb Brooks (as portrayed by Kurt Russel) said in the movie 'Miracle'. Brooks was addressing the fellows trying out for the US Men's Olympic Hockey Team ahead of the of 1980 Olympics. After the initial try outs where he evaluated players trying out for the Team, he gathered all of them together in the stands. He then sent home a number of players out of that group. To those who remained, he said "Those fellows, the ones who just left, are getting off easy. There are 40 of you left. I am putting a few of you on reserve in case someone gets injured or their game goes to hell. The final roster will have 20 names on it. So, more of you are going home. Give me 99%, and you will make my job very easy. I expect you to to force me to keep you on this Team!"
ReplyDeleteWhich brings us to Bryce Johnson. I am watching this game. Dodgers. Noah Syndergaard. Top of the 7th. Two outs. Men on 2nd and 3rd. Giants up large (7-1). He is already 2-3, 2 RBI, another SB (11 now in ST). Flawless CF. He hits a pop fly to 2B (not deep, on the dirt). The second basemen initially tracks it but it has some wicked spin and loses it drops 1 foot away. Bryce Johnson running hard all the way, winds up on 2B. 2 men score. No RBI, and no hit (an error) but 2 runs in and 2 bases on an IF error.
That much speed, that much hustle, propelled by that kind of attitude is something I have not seen in a Giants uniform in many years.
As far as I am concerned, Bryce Johnson is forcing Gabe Kapler to keep him on this team.
Excellent post. Thanks!
DeleteHeliot Ramos and Bryce Johnson were drafted in the 2017 draft. Luis Matos was in their 2018 international signing class with Marco Luciano. It was Bobby Evans who was the GM who signed and drafted these prospects. Would like to see him get some credit if these players develop into major league starting outfielders . The Giants have had a long dry spell.
ReplyDeleteI think I have said all along that Bobby Evans got the bad end of a raw deal. I'm still OK with FZ as the GM but is he demonstrably better than Evans at either drafting or finding undervalued talent on the market? Bobby was canned for doing exactly what the fans were clamoring for FZ to do this offseason: Spend up to the CBT threshold on a bunch if high-priced veterans to big, longterm contracts.
DeleteIt would be nice to have a Star...
DeleteOr 2.
Without betting the last half of the decade