Where Giants’ outfield situation stands headed into offseason

SAN FRANCISCO — The two long homers got all of the attention, but a throw that Giants center fielder Grant McCray made in the ninth inning Saturday night in San Diego was just as impressive from an athleticism standpoint. 

McCray went back to the edge of the track on Donovan Solano’s long fly ball and noticed that Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr., the speedy and daring runner on second, was tagging even with the Giants holding a three-run lead. His 96 mph rocket from deep center bounced once on the dirt before settling into Matt Chapman’s glove. Tatis, it turned out, wasn’t going anywhere, but when he saw the trajectory of the throw, he looked back out at center field in curiosity. 

The throw brought a smile to the face of a manager who earlier in the day had talked excitedly about the athleticism the Giants now have in their outfield. After McCray’s two-homer game, Bob Melvin said the rookie is potentially changing the way the organization views the outfield heading into the offseason.

“You can’t help but look at it differently,” Melvin said. “Now there’s still some time to go and we want to see as much of him as we possibly can, but you can’t help to think with Jung Hoo (Lee) coming back, what it could look like in the outfield for us next year.”

Melvin does know one big piece of the puzzle. As good as McCray has looked defensively, there’s no doubt that Lee will be in center field on Opening Day. That’s what he signed for, and he looked good there before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. 

“We look at a lot of numbers and it’s really good,” Melvin said of Lee. “The jumps, the ground he covers, the routes — it was really good. We were very excited about what he could do in center field.”

Lee has hit every checkpoint in his rehab and will have a normal spring. The real questions will come in the corners. 

The Giants have eight outfielders on their 40-man roster and only one — Michael Conforto — will be a free agent. The veteran has hit in the heart of Melvin’s lineups in September and has 16 homers this season, but he figures to find a better fit elsewhere, especially with Heliot Ramos likely settling in as the left fielder. 

Ramos’ second half hasn’t been nearly as hot as his first, but the 25-year-old has 20 homers overall and is viewed as a foundational piece. In the other corner, the Giants could again go with Mike Yastrzemski, who is entering his final year or arbitration and will be due a modest raise from his $7.9 million salary this season. 

Yastrzemski is slightly above league-average as a hitter (106 wRC+) and is one of the game’s better defensive right fielders, currently ranking fifth at his position with eight Defensive Runs Saved. Throw in strong baserunning and he’s at 1.5 fWAR, giving the Giants surplus value on their investment last offseason when there was some speculation about whether Yastrzemski might be non-tendered.

With so many inexperienced options elsewhere, the Giants probably would prefer one last reunion with Yastrzemski. He hasn’t reached his 2019-20 heights in recent years, but he’s still an above-average regular. 

“He understands kinda how it works around here,” Melvin said. “He’s a terrific right fielder and we have a very difficult right field in our ballpark … Yaz fits with this team very well.”

There is, of course, another experienced option looming, and he could impact decisions — although it’s unlikely. Juan Soto will be the best player on the free-agent market and the Giants have a recent history of bidding for that guy every winter. But Soto is widely believed to be staying in New York, either with the Yankees or the Mets. Winning that race would be a massive upset for the Giants and obviously would shift Ramos to right, among other things. 

The two other marquee outfield bats set for free agency are Teoscar Hernandez and Anthony Santander, and either would be a great fit for a lineup that needs more power. But the Giants might have bigger holes in the middle of the infield and first base, and they could also need high-end starting pitching if Blake Snell departs. 

The outfield group currently is filled out by Jerar Encarnacion (who is out of options, potentially making him a winter cut), Wade Meckler (who spent most of the year rehabbing and is now in Triple-A) and Luis Matos, who had a McCray-type run in May. Matos was NL Player of the Week at one point, but is hitting just .180 since that point. He is still just 22, though.

McCray will be 24 next season and Ramos will be 25. Lee, for all of his experience in the KBO, is just 26 years old. 

It’s a young group, which means growing pains, as the Giants were reminded when McCray followed his two-homer performance with four strikeouts the next afternoon. But Melvin can’t help but think about what could be if guys fully reach their potential. It’s been years since the Giants had a consistently athletic outfield, but that could be changing soon.  

“It’s exciting and athletic, and I think in our ballpark that’s really going to play and I think that’s something we need to look at harder, is how games are played in our ballpark,” Melvin said. “Maybe we need a little bit more athleticism and different ways to score and good defense.

“I think that’s exciting to look at, the athleticism and how much ground they can cover out there. It’s base-stealing and putting more pressure (on other teams) and that’s something we were deficient in, especially early in the season.”

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