The taxi squad will consist of LHP Conner Menez, RHPs Trevor Gott and Nick Tropeano, C Chadwick Tromp, and OF LaMonte Wade, Jr. These players will be available for road trips and can be "called up" for action immediately if someone on the active roster is injured. It does not impact their contract status or count as an option.
--M.C.
The Giants will open the season with 13 pitchers. The five starters are all right-handed. Southpaw Alex Wood (#57) will likely be placed on the Injured List. There are 10-day, 15-day, and 60-day assignments. The Giants have three off-days in their first twelve games. Wood, with a 15-day stint, could come off the IL for the road series in Miami starting on April 16th.
Kevin Gausman (#34), Johnny Cueto (#47), Logan Webb (#62), Anthony DeSclafani (#26), and Aaron Sanchez (#48) make up the rotation.
That makes eight spots for relievers. Five of them are lefties: Jake McGee (#17), Jarlin Garcia (#66), Jose Alvarez (#50), Wandy Peralta (#60), and Caleb Baragar (#45).
The three remaining right-handers are Reyes Moronta (#54), Matt Wisler (#37), and Tyler Rogers (#71).
That leaves 13 position players. Lefty-hitting shortstop Brandon Crawford (#35) and lefty-hitting first baseman Brandon Belt (#9) will be back for perhaps their final seasons in orange-and-black after a decade of fine work. The same could be true for veteran backstop and franchise icon Buster Posey (#28). Curt Casali (#2) will catch when Posey sits.
Evan Longoria (#10) will man third base and be backed up by lefty-hitting FNG Tommy La Stella (#18) who will also see time at second base. Donovan "Donnie Barrels" Solano (#7) will mostly man the keystone. Versatile Mauricio Dubon (#1) will see time in the infield as well as in center field. Wilmer Flores (#41) returns in his multi-position role, mostly on the left side of the infield.
Lefties Mike Yastrzemski (#5) and Alex Dickerson (#12) will be the main corner outfielders although Yaz will man center field as well. Austin Slater (#13) will see playing time in all three spots and Darin Ruf (#33) will come off the bench to play left field and likely get starts at first base.
Like last season, expect to see platoons against lefties. Marco Gonzalez starts for Seattle tomorrow so I think we'll see Slater leading off and playing left field, followed by Yaz in right, Solano at second, and Longo at third. Flores will DH with Belt, Posey, and BCraw behind him, and Dubon in center in the ninth spot. Or something like that!
Projection systems are not kind to the 2021 Giants, calling for 74-77 wins. Bettors have the under/over pegged at 75-1/2 wins. If the starting pitchers can stay healthy I think a .500+ record (82 wins) is a real possibility, even with the stiff competition in the NL West. The Dodgers have even more talent now than before, and the Padres are the most improved team in baseball. It will be a grind for the Giants, but they have good pitching depth overall even if there aren't any superstar arms, and that will be crucial this year. The team is a little thin at key positions like SS and CF so let's hope they avoid injuries in those spots. Fielding was an issue last year and in spring training so they'll have to clean up the defense to stay competitive.
I'm of course excited for Opening Day and the possibility of a full season of baseball. The first game is in Seattle against the Mariners tomorrow night at 7:10 PDT.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
p.s. I know it is hard to keep track of all the changes and all the new guys so I recommend FanGraph's ROSTER RESOURCE pages. I'm there almost every day. (I have a link in the sidebar.) Like I said before I'm glad they are putting the names on the home jerseys this year!
Heliot Ramos was selected for the Barney Nugent Award which is given to the best of the first-time-in-camp ballplayers. Ramos is only 21 and it is exciting to see his emergence. I suspect we will see him on the big league roster sometime this season. The 2017 1st-round pick went 15-for-36 with 3 doubles and 3 homers. He's been in pro ball since he was signed out of Puerto Rico at age 17 and has logged over 1100 PAs in the minors. He'll start the year in AAA-Sacramento.
But the real story of the spring, for me, is that of Logan Webb. He gave up a run against the A's today in the Giants final tune-up. (The 7-2 win gives them an 11-12 Cactus League record.) What's notable is that's the only run Webb allowed in his 17 IP across five starts. The 24-year old from Rocklin has also been in the organization since he was 17 years old and he has logged almost 400 IP in the minors. He's spent time in the bigs the last two seasons, starting 19 games, but the results haven't been there. Armed with a new change-up he's elevated his game and secured a spot in the starting rotation. Webb will pitch on Saturday against the Mariners in Seattle.
Kervin Castro was another spring standout. The 22-year old right-handed starter from Venezuela has yet to pitch above low-A ball and will probably be assigned to the new high-A affiliate in Eugene. Here's the word from Kap:
"That is a future Major League pitcher," Kapler said after Castro posted a quick, 1-2-3 inning against the Padres on March 5. "That pace, that tempo, he's on the mound and ready to deliver the baseball before the hitter is ready. He's pounding the strike zone, and when he's not in the strike zone he's very close to it and throwing his secondary weapons for strikes.
“He's just a really impressive kid."
The Giants need good, young players and they especially need good, young pitchers. Let's hope we see more performances like these.
I'll do another post on the final roster before Thursday's opener. Looks like the only NRI that will make the team is Nick Tropeano. The 30-year old journeyman right-hander has mostly been a starter and will likely be the key swingman/long reliever/bulk innings guy out of the 'pen.
--M.C.
The Giants cut the roster in camp from 42 down to 36 players. LH reliever Sam Selman, who I thought was a lock to open the season with the Giants, was optioned to the minors (presumably AAA). Infielder Jason Vosler, who seems to be the kind of versatile player FZ and Kap love, joins Selman. It's good to have quality backups in the system, and I should note that both players have options remaining.
Roster Resource shows veteran Wandy Peralta as the next LH reliever on the depth chart. They also like NRIs Shun Yamaguchi and Nick Tropeano as RH swingmen behind Tyler Rogers, Matt Wisler, and Reyes Moronta. Both Yamaguchi and Tropeano have starting experience. Southpaws Jake McGee, Jarlin García, and José Álvarez will likely make up the rest of the 'pen.
Kevin Gausman gets the nod to open the season in Seattle (Thursday, April 1st) with Johnny Cueto slotting in the next day. The first game at home isn't until the 9th (Rockies) and it looks like Cueto will get the ball then as its game #7. I expect Gausman will pitch game #6 in San Diego. At this point Anthony DeSclafani and Logan Webb will get the next two spots. Alex Wood is still uncertain and that probably means Aaron Sanchez will be the 5th starter.
The other four players cut were NRIs and will be re-assigned, those are pitchers Silvino Bracho, Rico Garcia (who needs surgery), Phil Pfeifer, and OF Joe McCarthy.
If you were counting, that's 14 pitchers (5 starters and 9 relievers) leaving room for only 12 position players. MLB is allowing 14 pitchers this season instead of capping the 26-man at 13--that's a holdover from last season. Only 12 position players makes it hard for someone like LaMonte Wade, Jr. or Steven Duggar to crack the roster. Much will depend on the health and readiness of Evan Longoria and Brandon Belt. Only one week until real baseball!
--M.C.
