Here’s what’s changed in Giants’ lineup
A first-place Giants club that often cites its depth as the primary reason behind its surprising success this season is on the verge of welcoming back another key hitter to the lineup.
After missing more than two months with a shoulder injury, third baseman Evan Longoria is poised to rejoin the Giants near the beginning of the team’s ninegame homestand that begins Tuesday against Arizona.
Longoria follows fellow infielders Tommy La Stella and Brandon Belt, who each returned to the Giants last week after lengthy injured list stints that required the club to rely on some of its less experienced players to carry the load. The prospect of what the Giants will look like with a full strength roster has been top of mind for manager Gabe Kapler, who has been thinking about potential lineup combinations and ways to keep his veteran hitters fresh since the July 30 acquisition of former Cubs slugger Kris Bryant.
Bryant, who can play nearly every position on the diamond and has already appeared in center field for the Giants, provides the team with premium flexibility because his ability to move to different spots on the field enables
Kapler to manage more creatively and aggressively seek matchup advantages in the middle and late innings.
Adding Bryant is the most dramatic change the Giants have undergone since the team was last at full strength, but there have been several other important developments that have allowed the club to withstand severe injury issues and maintain a lead in the National League West.
Of the 10 position players who took an at-bat for the Giants on Opening Night in Seattle, eight have been placed on the injured list at least once during the 2021 season while another, Mauricio Dubón, hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since June 27 after he was optioned to Triple-a Sacramento.
Three weeks into the season, the Giants lost second baseman Donovan Solano to a calf strain and began to see several regulars deal with a range of soft tissue injuries in the days that followed. Over a month-long span that began on April 22, the Giants placed Solano, La Stella, outfielder Mike Yastrzemski, outfielder Alex Dickerson and infielder Wilmer Flores on the 10-day injured list.
During the same timeframe, the Giants also dealt with injuries to pitchers Logan Webb, Johnny Cueto and Aaron Sanchez as well as Lamonte Wade Jr., a top offensive contributor in 2021 who didn’t begin to become a force in the lineup until June.
Wade’s emergence as a versatile power-hitter was one of the byproducts of the Giants’ injury issues as he served as a full-time fill-in against right-handed pitchers for Belt during his six-week stint on the injured list.
With several players in and out of the lineup prior to the Allstar break, the Giants also relied more heavily on a pair of righthanded hitters who were initially slated to fill platoon roles this season. Flores and Darin Ruf, who also missed a month of time with a hamstring injury, have been critical middle-of-the-order bats against right-handed pitchers when lefties such as La Stella and Belt were unavailable.
In 207 plate appearances against right-handers this season, Flores has posted a .832 OPS. In a smaller 109-plate appearance sample, Ruf has been even better as his OPS is .903.
Having the chance to audition many less experienced players such as Wade and utility man
Thairo Estrada (.824 OPS in 85 plate appearances) has turned into a positive for a Giants organization that knows it can rely on the depth of its 40-man roster, but the most significant change the club has experienced since the lineup was last at full strength is the resurgence of its longest-tenured players.
On Opening Night, catcher Buster Posey hit seventh while shortstop Brandon Crawford was batting in the eighth spot. Their respective places near the bottom of the Giants’ lineup was not necessarily reflective of Kapler’s confidence in their abilities, but it may have been an early signal the coaching staff didn’t expect to count on the veterans for Allstar-caliber production.
Even with Bryant now in the fold and Longoria set to join a lineup that now includes healthy and productive versions of La Stella and Belt, Posey and Crawford deserve to hit near the top or middle of a lineup that began the week leading the majors in home runs.
With a stronger lineup, a deeper bench and the Giants’ most important players enjoying some of the best seasons of their careers, it’s easy to see why Kapler and the coaching staff are thrilled about having all of their position players healthy and available to contribute.