3rd baseman of future isn’t short on versatility
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Giants love shortstops.
Theirs is one of the best in baseball, Brandon Crawford. Their second baseman was drafted as a shortstop and converted in the minors, Joe Panik.
They drafted Matt Duffy as a shortstop and taught him to play third base as a big-leaguer.
Last summer, they traded for Eduardo Nuñez, who had played mostly shortstop during his career but played third after Duffy was traded to Tampa Bay.
Heck, even Buster Posey played shortstop in college.
No wonder the Giants’ top hitting prospect is a shortstop. Not that Christian Arroyo is targeted to play the position in the big leagues, not with Mr. Crawford in the house.
Arroyo, who’s 21 going on 30, is the team’s third baseman of the future, and we’re not talking the distant future. It’s not unrealistic to imagine Arroyo playing third on Opening Day in 2018, so long as he continues to excel on the fast track.
“For me, they stressed the value of versatility,” Arroyo said at his Scottsdale Stadium locker. “Staying versatile is
going to be huge.”
Arroyo was the Giants’ top draft pick in 2013 — he was salutatorian at Hernando High School in Brooksville, Fla. — and he signed after turning down a scholarship from Florida, where he would have studied architectural engineering.
He’s plenty smart enough to realize his ticket to the big leagues might not be at his No. 1 position, and he’s perfectly fine with that.
“If you move around, I think it’s a little easier to move from short to other positions than from other positions to short,” Arroyo said, and he’d get no argument from Panik or Duffy.
Unlike Duffy, Arroyo’s good friend who predominantly played short in the minors, Arroyo already is moving around the infield. Last season at Double-A Richmond, he got 48 starts at short, 48 at third and 19 at second.
More of the same is expected this season at Triple-A Sacramento, though third will be the focus.
“He’s already capable of handling all three positions,” general manager Bobby Evans said. “It’s really about getting his at-bats and facing higherlevel pitching.”
With Crawford and Panik around long term, the only potential opening will be at third, where Nuñez is in a conleague, tract year. He could leave as a free agent after the season, creating a spot for Arroyo.
Then again, Nuñez has unique value on a team lacking team speed. He stole 40 bases last season and handled third nicely late in the year, at least until his hamstring injury that opened the door for Conor Gillaspie’s magnificent Division Series.
Arroyo must show progress, and the Giants must be willing to move on from Nuñez. That’s a long way off, and there’s always the possibility Arroyo could be sought by other teams at the trade deadline — it wouldn’t be the first time.
Meantime, Arroyo will be one of the youngest players in the Pacific Coast League as he was in the Eastern League last year when he hit .274 with a .316 on-base percentage, three homers and 49 RBIs.
Not overly impressive numbers, but darned good for someone three years out of high school. It’s a tough hitters’ league, and Richmond has a tough hitters’ park. Arroyo’s 36 doubles ranked third in the and he’s expected to add pop as he physically matures.
“The front office guys were telling me power is the last tool to come for a high school guy and not to worry about it, just stay with my approach,” Arroyo said.
“I talked with Sabes (Brian Sabean) during the season, and he told me, ‘Get on base, swing at strikes and hit hard line drives to gaps.’ I said, ‘Yes, sir.’ I kind of kept that approach all year.”
Evans didn’t rule out Arroyo playing in San Francisco this year, under the right circumstances, but the emphasis is succeeding at the Triple-A level.
“The front office guys know what they’re doing,” Arroyo said. “They’re going to try to bring me along at whatever rate they want.”
Spoken like a true shortstop destined to be a former shortstop.