The Giants are paying Jung Hoo Lee a lot of money to be their center fielder for at least the next two years. He is another player who feels like he's at a crossroads in his career having lost his first season in the role to injury and experiencing ups and downs in his first full season of action. Buster Posey needs to keep his eye on two depth parameters this offseason: Who is the back up CF in case of another injury and is there a player or players in the farm system who can develop into a replacement should Lee opt out in two years.
MLB:
Jung Hoo Lee: Lee started the season hot hitting 6 home runs in the first 2 months. Pitchers figured out he was pulling everything and his BA plummeted into a long string of rolled over ground outs to 2B. After reworking his approach at the All-Star Break the home runs disappeared but his overall line improved considerably to .293/.345/.414. Questions about his D in CF also arose as he appeared to keep one eye on the wall and another on Heliot Ramos. Overall Fangraphs rated his defense in negative territory. Historically Korean players have taken a year to adjust to MLB pitching. Did Jung Hoo Lee make that adjustment at midseason and can we expect the second half version for a full season next year? If so, he's probably worth his contract and should probably switch places with Heliot Ramos in the lineup and bat leadoff.
Drew Gilbert: Gilbert had a wild month after his call up. He definitely brought energy with him, maybe too much energy! He showed a bit of pop, speed to cover CF and arm to play RF. What he didn't do is hit much finishing with a .190 BA. Did he show enough to be a 4'th OF next season? He has 3 options.
Grant McCray: McCray was parked in AAA most of the season. He came 3 SB's short of a 15/30 season but a persistent high K rate held his overall line down. I still think he has the best overall tools of any OF in the system except possibly Bo Davidson. To me the big issue is the strikeouts. Can he get those under control? He has 2 more options.
AAA:
Turner Hill: Undrafted free agent signed May 2023. Similar profile to Wade Meckler and Drew Gilbert. Smallish lefty batting CF with some speed. Hill is listed on the AAA roster but spent most of his season in AA Richmond with a respectable line of .256/.356/.357, 18 SB. His walk rate(11.5%) was higher than his K rate(10.2%).
AA:
Bo Davidson: Another undrafted free agent, Davidson is starting to get some national attention as an overlooked gem with effusive scouting reports. He fell just short of a 20/20 season across two levels and held his own after a midseason promotion to AA. Double digit walk rates while keeping his K rate in the low 20's% is another positive sign. He has a half-season head start on his AA season. You don't have to squint too hard to see him advancing to AAA sooner than later and maybe even making his MLB debut in 2026.
A+:
Jonah Cox: Cox came over to the Giants from the A's in the Ross Stripling trade. He has one outstanding skill: Stealing bases. He stole 58 bases in each of the last two seasons. He obviously has the speed to play CF and added 10 HR's in 2025. He cut his K rated down from around 30% to a more manageable 22.4%. He should get the AA test in 2026.
A:
Dakota Jordan: Very muscular. Built like a football linebacker. Power plus speed. Unpolished game. Put up a fine line of .311/.377/.497 for A San Jose which is a very conservative placement for a 4'th round draft pick out of college in his first full season. Ended the season on the IL, I think with a muscle strain. Should move up to A+ in 2026. Physically a unique player it's fun to dream on.
Trevor Cohen: Third round draft pick out of Rutgers who wasn't ranked in MLB's top draft prospects. Contact hitter extraordinaire with an inverted K/BB of 11.5/15.4. Stole 8 bases in 130 PA's but just one HR. Speed to play CF. Based on Buster Posey's comments of the type of hitter he thinks will thrive in Oracle Park, we should be hearing a lot more about Cohen going forward.
ACL:
Andy Polanco: 11'th round draft pick in 2024. Polanco put up a line of .264/.346/.336 with 22 SB's in 163 PA's in the ACL in his age 20 season. At 6' 4", 195 pounds he has to size to develop power. We should see him in San Jose in 2026.
DSL:
Luis Frias: Batted .288 in the DSL but this was his 4'th season down there.
Djean Macares: 6 digit bonus baby from the 2025 international signing cycle. Batted just .214 in his first pro season but with inverted K/BB, 13.0/14.5.
Personally, I'd like to see McCray get more work at the MLB level. I heard an interview towards the end of the season where he said he knew his strikeouts were a problem. It doesn't seem like a totally unfixable issue, but placing Lee in the leadoff spot and McCray hitting there when possible could help a lot in terms of getting his plate approach adjusted to contact hitting, not going for home runs.
ReplyDeleteHow 'bout signing Bellinger as a free agent? The Giants could move Lee to a corner and achieve Buster's goal of adding more contact hitting into the lineup ... it could also give the new manager more lineup flexibility since Bellinger could play first or corner outfield, freeing up a trade of Devers or Eldridge for an arm or another bat?
ReplyDeleteIt looks like Bellinger has put his injuries and whatever else may have been bothering him in his rearview mirror. He could be a less expensive OF option than Kyle Tucker, though by no means inexpensive. I would be OK with it as long as it didn't get in the way of fortifying the pitching.
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