The Giants are running on youth now, and the first week after the deadline has already handed them a few reasons to keep watching.
San Francisco moved six major-leaguers, including impending free agents Luis Arraez and Robbie Ray, and brought back eight prospects. That left the roster noticeably younger and thinner on experience, with 26 players on hand and eight of them having played in fewer than 50 big-league games. For Tony Vitello, that means the rest of the season is about finding out who can handle the moment.
Vitello has spent his career around young players trying to prove themselves, and this group is no different. He and president of baseball operations Buster Posey are both in unusual spots, too: Vitello is the first person in MLB history to go straight from a college program into a major league managerial job without working for a professional baseball organization, and Posey is in his first full year running a franchise.
That lack of experience has already shown up at times this season, from Posey’s handling of the Pride night controversy to Vitello’s questionable pitching choices. Now the roster itself is asking for a new kind of patience.
One of the new faces, Eddys Leonard, made his big-league debut on Tuesday after more than nine years in the minors. Since signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers as an international free agent in 2017, Leonard has played 753 minor-league games for 13 different teams across five organizations and climbed through every level.
The same day, Blade Tidwell took the mound for his 13th major league appearance and his third career start, and his first with San Francisco since arriving at last year’s trade deadline. The outing started badly: a 32-pitch first inning that ended with two runs allowed on three hits.
After that, though, Tidwell settled in and threw four scoreless innings on the way to 100 pitches. Vitello pointed to Tidwell’s “bulldog mentality” in his postgame comments, along with the ability to work multiple innings and find a rhythm.
He is expected to get more starts, and the Giants may also look at him as a long reliever or even a closer to figure out where he fits best.
Osleivis Basabe has made a quick case of his own. The 25-year-old has played six games for the Giants and already has a double, three homers and eight RBI.
Those homers have mattered. His first, in San Diego, was a two-run shot that tied the game in the third inning.
The next day, he cut a two-run deficit in half with another homer. On Tuesday in Texas, he tied the game at two with a two-run blast in the seventh.
The playing time figure to keep opening up around him. Matt Chapman’s return looks less certain after an MRI showed a core muscle injury, and he will travel to Philadelphia next week for an evaluation from a specialist.
The Giants are not planning to rush him, and Vitello even raised the possibility that Chapman might not play again this season. With Chapman and Casey Schmitt out, the Giants can keep rotating Basabe, Nate Furman, Christian Koss, Buddy Kennedy, Leonard and even Jonah Cox once he is back in the majors.
There is also room in the outfield. Heliot Ramos’ departure has created more opportunities for Grant McCray, who is 3-for-25 with a homer but has trimmed his strikeout rate toward league average in a small sample.
He has also drawn six walks in 33 plate appearances, stolen four bases and played strong defense. Victor Bericoto, out with an oblique strain for the last month, is set to begin a rehab assignment in Sacramento on Wednesday.
The front office clearly saw something in its younger outfielders, enough to make moving a former All-Star easier and still bring back a strong return. And after the deadline chaos, the clubhouse can finally settle into something closer to normal.
Some players no longer have to wait around wondering if they’re next. Others are just grateful for the chance.
The wins may not come in bunches, but the Giants are in this spot because they weren’t stacking them up before.
In Other News...
Giants Landed Marcelo Mayer Amid A Wild Rumor Boston Can't Escape
The Giants added Marcelo Mayer before the MLB trade deadline, landing the former top draft pick from Boston in a deal that sent Erik Miller and Carlos Gutierrez the other way. For San Francisco, it is a move centered on talent and upside, bringing in a player whose path with the Red Sox was complicated by injuries and development setbacks, but whose pedigree still makes him one of the more intriguing names to change teams this summer.
Around the trade, though, Boston has been dogged by a swirl of unverified rumor that has nothing to do with the usual baseball reasons teams make these kinds of decisions. The chatter has floated a personal angle involving Roman Anthony and his family, but nothing in those claims has been confirmed, and the only concrete part of the story for the Giants is the trade itself and what Mayer might become in a new organization. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Now Face A Brutal Matt Chapman Decision
Matt Chapman has been out since July 1 with a core muscle injury, and the Giants have already had to keep adjusting around his absence. An MRI confirmed the issue, and with Casey Schmitt also dealing with a knee injury and Luis Arraez gone in a trade, San Franciscos infield picture has been getting thinner at exactly the wrong time.
Now the next step is a full evaluation with Dr. William Meyers, and that visit will go a long way toward clarifying Chapmans path back. The Giants still do not have a clean answer on when he can return, and with the roster already patched together, they are left waiting on the kind of medical decision that could shape the rest of their season. [Read more 🡒]