San Francisco Giants: Deconstructing the 2022 lineup

By Jonas Thoms | Mar 19, 2022

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 31: Manager Gabe Kapler #19 of the San Francisco Giants stands with his team during the playing of the National Anthem prior to the start of their game against the Los Angeles Angels at Oracle Park on May 31, 2021 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

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.

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