Where Giants’ roster battles stand midway through spring training originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — The first Monday of the Cactus League season presented a puzzle that Giants manager Bob Melvin would rather have avoided. The Giants had a split-squad day, so Melvin and his staff had to figure out how to fill rosters for two nine-inning exhibitions at a time when just about every veteran was avoiding playing back-to-back games and every pitcher was being brought along carefully.
The second Monday of the Cactus League season was much easier. The Giants had the day off.
When they return from the golf courses and fancy restaurants on Tuesday, the Giants will have just one more off day before flying home to San Francisco for two exhibitions against the Detroit Tigers. From there, it’s on to Cincinnati for the first series of the 2025 MLB season.
Buster Posey, Zack Minasian, Melvin and the rest have a little over three weeks to decide which players will be on that flight to the midwest. Here’s a look at how some of their decisions are shaping up …
Catcher
This was supposed to be easy. Patrick Bailey is the Gold Glove catcher and Posey said on the first day of camp that Tom Murphy would be his backup. But on the second day of camp, Murphy was in the trainer’s room, and he hasn’t been seen since. The veteran, signed to a two-year deal before last season, has a mid-back herniation that required an epidural and almost certainly will miss Opening Day.
There are two leading candidates to win the backup job, and this could come down to how the Giants want to manage their 40-man roster. Sam Huff already is on it, and the 27-year-old hit a long homer in the first spring game. He’s a former top 100 prospect who was acquired from the Texas Rangers in January, and it’s hard not to wonder if the Giants might get an opportunity here to at least make up for some of the pain of losing Joey Bart. Like Bart a year ago, Huff is out of options.
If it’s not Huff, it’ll be Max Stassi, a veteran who has a strong reputation behind the plate. Stassi has spent his entire career — 403 games over 10 years — in the AL West, so Melvin knows him well.
So far, this race has failed to pick up steam. Huff is 1-for-10 with eight strikeouts since that homer; Stassi is 0-for-6.
Infield
The franchise is set on the left side for years to come, with Willy Adames joining Matt Chapman. LaMonte Wade Jr. will start at first and be backed up by Wilmer Flores, and Tyler Fitzgerald is getting used to life on the other side of the second base bag.
The real question here is whether the Giants will carry one or two backups beyond Flores. Right now, it’s a battle between Casey Schmitt and Brett Wisely.
“I think both of them have a good opportunity to make this team,” Melvin said a couple weeks ago. “You always want competition.”
If the Giants only can choose one, Wisely seems the more likely fit since he bats left-handed — a serious need on this roster — and can also play outfield. The latter skill might be especially important since the rest of the bench figures to lack versatility. Wisely is off to the better start, with six hits in 13 spring at-bats.
Schmitt is blocked at his best position — third base — which is the same situation David Villar finds himself in. Villar is out of options, so this month is mostly about showcasing himself to 29 other teams. The Giants could have used a Jake Lamb breakout so they could talk more seriously about having left-handed thump on the bench, but the veteran currently is out with a quad strain.
Outfield
The starters are locked in, with Heliot Ramos and Mike Yastrzemski flanking a fully healthy Jung Hoo Lee. Ramos has been slowed by oblique tightness but returned to the lineup Tuesday.
At this point, you should lock Jerar Encarnacion in, too. The 27-year-old was a Baseball Savant star last year, and this spring the production is there in the batter’s box, too. Encarnacion is 8-for-18 with 10 RBI and looks like the best option at designated hitter.
If the Giants start Encarnacion at DH and carry Flores, a backup catcher and one backup middle infielder on the bench, they can choose one more outfielder. Luis Matos has had good at-bats and could slide into a platoon with Yastrzemski in right field.
Rotation
It looks likely that it will be Logan Webb, Justin Verlander, Robbie Ray and Jordan Hicks in that order, which would set Verlander up for the home opener on April 4. After that, there’s an open competition.
Kyle Harrison, Hayden Birdsong and Landen Roupp have combined to strike out 17 over 11 innings this spring, so this won’t be an easy decision.
Roupp has looked the sharpest this spring but Birdsong has shown an electric fastball. Harrison was a few days behind because he got sick just before camp, but he’s likely the favorite for the No. 5 spot if he has a hiccup-free month.
The 23-year-old is only a year removed from being the best left-handed prospect in baseball. The Giants always have viewed him as the long-term partner for Webb atop the rotation, so it would be a mild surprise if someone else takes the ball for the fifth game.
Bullpen
If Roupp doesn’t win a rotation job, he should be a pretty easy choice for the bullpen, which could be one of the best in baseball. Melvin confirmed early in camp that Ryan Walker will return as the closer, and the eighth inning will either belong to Tyler Rogers or Camilo Doval, who has impressed Giants staffers with an uptick in leadership this spring and a commitment to mastering the small details that have derailed him in the past.
Erik Miller has dealt with minor ailments all spring, but the staff was going to be very careful with his workload anyway. He’s currently the only lefty reliever with a safe spot, but the Giants are intrigued by their group of non-roster invitees, which includes Raymond Burgos, Miguel Del Pozo, Antonio Jimenez, Joey Lucchesi, Helcris Olivarez and Enny Romero. They need one of them to pitch well enough this spring to win a job.
Sean Hjelle is a veteran at this point, and there’s not much he needs to show this spring. The Giants are hopeful he can slide into a key mid-innings role and become the guy who gets Melvin out of jams with runners on base. That’s a role Walker had at one point, and the staff never quite figured out how to best handle inherited runners when the nasty right-hander became the closer.
The Giants plan to carry 13 pitchers, which would allow for eight relievers. There are a lot of right-handed options, but Randy Rodriguez is the incumbent and has done a better job of being in the zone this spring.
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