MORE IN STORE?
Silver Slugger Award winner Solano may become an even bigger offensive force
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. >> It’s hard to envision Donovan Solano providing more offensive production than he’s given the Giants in each of the past two seasons.
If spring training is any indication, he might do so anyway.
The reigning National League Silver Slugger Award winner at second base is hitting nearly .500 this spring (13 for 28) with a 1.266 OPS that reflects a power surge at the plate.
Solano has four extra-base hits this spring, including a home run in Tuesday’s win over the Cleveland Indians that sailed over the 410foot sign in center field at Goodyear Ballpark. The most impressive aspect of Solano’s at-bats this spring could be the fact he’s only struck out once.
“I want to avoid striking out,” Solano said through Spanish language translator Erwin Higueros. “I see myself as the type of player that puts the ball in play and I know that I’m trying to hit extra-base hits, but all of the sudden, I’m
hitting home runs. So I think that’s a good thing for me right now.”
Since the Giants promoted Solano from Triple-A in 2019, the Colombia native has hit .328 in 405 at-bats, but only homered seven times. Three of those home runs were hit at Coors Field, so it’s clear that while Solano has been one of the best pure hitters in baseball over the last two seasons, he hasn’t been much of a power threat.
The player Giants teammates refer to as “Donnie Barrels” has consistently hit the ball in the air this spring, but manager Gabe Kapler isn’t certain a dramatic increase in Solano’s home run total is in the cards.
“I think you can make the case that the swing is a little bit more powerful,” Kapler said. “It’s pretty hard to make any definitive statements here in spring training.
The atmosphere is a little bit different here, the ball carries pretty well. But Donnie has power to all fields, he uses the field line to line which is part of what makes him a dangerous all-around hitter.”
What the Giants do know is that regardless of whether Solano showcases more power early in the season, they’ll want him in the lineup against both right and lefthanded pitchers. Even after signing freeagent Tommy La Stella to a three-year deal with the expectation La Stella will play a lot of second base against right-handed pitchers, the Giants don’t envision Solano sliding into a platoon role.
“He can flat out hit,” Kapler said. “He can hit righties and he can hit lefties. We don’t view Solano as a platoon bat, although you might see him get his days off more frequently against right-handed pitching than against lefties. We’re just going to have to be smart about getting our regular players days off in the best possible way with respect to matchups.”
That’s music to the ears of Solano, who was a well below-average offensive player from 2012-2016, when he had a combined .636 across four seasons with the Marlins and a nine-game stint with the Yankees. After spending a full season at Triple-A in the Yankees’ organization and another with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate, Solano was determined to prove he could thrive against major league pitchers.
San Francisco finally gave him that opportunity in 2019 after he followed president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi from the Dodgers organization to the Giants on a minor league deal. It only took a month of games with the Sacramento River Cats for Solano to get the call to the big leagues and since that point, he’s been a force against both righties and lefties.
“I really don’t pay attention to whether if it’s a righty or a lefty,” Solano said. “I think I just want to continue the success I had last year. Last year, I proved I was able to prove I could hit righties and lefties and I think that’s the same thinking for all of us, trying to give the manager great options.”