San Francisco Giants: Deconstructing the 2022 lineup
Surprising everyone, the 2021 San Francisco Giants had one of the best offenses in the game, ranking second in the National League in runs and first in OPS and OPS+. They did it distinctly, constructing an offensive lineup of older players with distinct platoon advantages and positional flexibility.
Of all the teams in Major League Baseball in 2021, the Giants were the only team to not have a player appear in 140 games and one of three teams with only two players to reach 500 plate appearances for their team. Who led the Giants in games played last year? Wilmer Flores and Mike Yastrzemski with 139. Brandon Crawford was third with 138 and first in plate appearances with 549.
What the San Francisco Giants did remarkably was use their platoon advantages and positional flexibility to construct the best lineups possible.
This also provided additional rest to their older lineup. Guys like Darin Ruf, Tommy La Stella, and LaMonte Wade Jr. were given playing time in situations where they were most likely to succeed and could play multiple positions adequately.
It looks like the 2022 Giants will look very similar to last year’s team. Kris Bryant and Donovan Solano have left in free agency while Joc Pederson is the lone addition.
The 29-year-old Pederson fits the mold of the Giants lineup creation. With a career .832 OPS (123 wRC+) versus right-handed pitching and a .610 OPS (68 wRC+) against southpaws, Pederson makes sense as a platoon player. If he starts versus righties and Austin Slater (.853 OPS and 131 wRC+ against LHP) against lefties, the Giants could have All-Star level production with minimal salary.
Barring any more free agent signings, it seems likely that the Giants roster of position players will include these players:
Catchers – Joey Bart and Curt Casali
Infielders – Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, Wilmer Flores, Evan Longoria, Tommy La Stella
Outfielders – Darin Ruf, Joc Pederson, Lamonte Wade Jr., Mike Yastrzemski
Assuming the Giants will carry 13 position players, that leaves two spots and a battle between four players to fill those roles — Steven Duggar and Austin Slater for the final outfield spot and Thairo Estrada and Mauricio Dubon for the final infield spot. It has been reported by Anthony Franco at MLB Trade Rumors that due to the late start of spring training, rosters could be expanded to include more than 26 players to start the season, but no official word on that has come yet. Even if that comes to fruition, eventually the 26-man roster will be back in place and for our sake, we will assume that the bulk of the season will be played with the normal roster size.
Of the players guaranteed a roster spot, only Crawford has any recent experience at shortstop so, it seems probable that one of Estrada and Dubon will be on the roster. Both have experience at numerous infield positions and bat right-handed. Neither have minor league options left, so it will be roster or bust for both players. Estrada is a little better hitter while Dubon has more positional flexibility with experience in the outfield.
Duggar and Slater both saw significant time last season, appearing in over 100 games. Duggar bats left-handed, is 28 and is out of options. Slater bats right-handed, is 29, and has one option year left. If the Giants go with Duggar, they would have an entirely left-handed outfield other than Darin Ruf. If they go with Slater, Duggar would have to be designated for assignment and would likely be lost on the waiver wire. Defensive metrics peg them as similar defenders in centerfield, where they would most likely play. I’m putting Slater on the 26-man roster because of the added lineup flexibility and the fact that he spent all of 2021 on the MLB team.
All that to say, manager Gabe Kapler will have lots of options when creating lineups this year. Here are projected starters with career OPS and wRC+ against platoon (note: Joey Bart, Thairo Estrada, and Mauricio Dubon have too few MLB plate appearances to assess their platoon preferences).
San Francisco Giants Starters vs. RHP
C Joey Bart
1B Brandon Belt (.848 OPS, 132 wRC+)
2B Tommy La Stella (.761, 107)
SS Brandon Crawford (.741, 100)
3B Evan Longoria (.784, 113)
LF LaMonte Wade Jr. (.835, 124)
CF Mike Yastrzemski (.857, 126)
RF Joc Pederson (.832, 123)
DH Darin Ruf (.696, 92)
San Francisco Giants Starters vs. LHP
C Joey Bart
1B Brandon Belt (.756, 110)
2B Wilmer Flores (.823, 119)
SS Thairo Estrada/Mauricio Dubon
3B Evan Longoria (.871, 132)
LF Darin Ruf (.940, 153)
CF Austin Slater (.853, 131)
RF Mike Yastrzemski (.772, 108)
DH Curt Casali (.756, 103)
Those are two very productive lineups. If rosters are expanded to 28 to start the season that likely opens the door for Duggar to make the team. In that scenario, his career .767 OPS and 107 wRC+ would fit nicely in centerfield versus righties with Pederson moving to the DH role.
Next. The HOF case for Giants legend Will Clark. dark
Nobody predicted the Giants would have the best record in baseball in 2021 and few will make that projection for this season. If they remain healthy and their excellent rotation performs as expected, they should, however, compete for one of the six NL playoff spots in 2022.