Spring Training Update: Out of Left Field...

So, let's start with a list of who played LF for the Giants last year by number of games played at the position:

Mike Yastrzemski 61.
Alex Dickerson 44.
Tyler Austin 22.
Gerardo Parra 20
Joey Rickard 20
Brandon Belt 14
Mac Williamson 13
Yangervis Solarte 9
Stephen Vogt 7
Connor Joe 5
Mike Gerber 5
Austin Slater 2
Abiatal Avelino 1.

Now, that is quite a list, huh?  7 of those 13 players are not in the organization at this time.  I think we can also check off Avelino and Belt from being serious contenders for significant playing time at the position.  That leaves YtY, Dick, Rickard and Slater as holdovers from last year. The Giants went out and added Hunter Pence on a guaranteed contract and Chris Shaw played a lot of LF in AA and AAA last season.  You can add Jamie Westbrook as a non-roster invitee to the mix but with close to zero chance of making the Opening Day Roster.

Mike Yastrzemski:  We've already covered him in the CF and RF posts.  Can play any of the 3 OF positions and was the Giants best overall of last season.  The weird part of his situation is he may be the Giants second choice to start at all 3 OF positions which means he could play an OF utility role or even get sent to Sacramento on one of his 3 options!

Alex Dickerson:  I think just about everybody's dream is for Dickerson to be healthy for a full season and see if he can rake the whole time the way he did for 30 games in June and July of last season when it looked like his bat just might carry the Giants to the postseason.  That's the big if with Dick. Last season was the first he played since 2016 and he was only fully healthy for a little over 1 month. He also has fairly extreme L-R splits so needs a platoon partner if he's the starter in LF.

Hunter Pence:  Pence could be a high profile short end of a strict L-R platoon in LF, but I'm sure he has designs on being out there every day.  He'll likely perform better at his age with a healthy number of days off.

Joey Rickard:  Rickard looked like a promising platoon partner for Dick, but the acquisition of Hunter Pence probably buried him.  He could conceivably partner with YtY in CF if Billy Hamilton's bat proves to still be a wet noodle in spring games.

Austin Slater:  Unfortunately a lot of bad things would have to happen for Slater to make the team as an OF which is why he is slated to play a lot of IF in spring games. He appears to be pretty far down the depth chart at all positions.  Likely to get hit with his last option and sent out to Sacramento.

Chris Shaw:  Will start the season in Sacramento barring multiple disasters to other players.

Jamie Westbrook:  Will be lucky to survive The Churn and start the season in Sacramento or Richmond.

Putting It All Together:  Seems like the ideal situation is for Dickerson and Pence to form a platoon with Pence maybe getting more playing time than a strict R-L platoon would give him.  If Dickerson gets hurt again or does a faceplant in the spring, look for YtY to move back to where he played the most last season.  Joey Rickard is insurance for Pence's side of the platoon.