SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Penciled in at leadoff in the Giants’ lineup Sunday against the Angels was Mike Yastrzemski. Batting cleanup: Joc Pederson. Nothing out of the ordinary there. But take a closer look at the lineup card: Yastrzemski was playing right field, with Pederson in center.
Let’s get this out of the way: That’s not an outfield alignment the Giants are planning on rolling out when the games count. On Opening Day when the Giants face the Marlins and, presumably, right-hander Sandy Alcantara, the plan is for Pederson to start in right field, Yastrzemski in center and LaMonte Wade Jr. in left, manager Gabe Kapler said Sunday. But because the plan is for Pederson to serve as an option in center and, likewise, Yastrzemski in right, Kapler wants to give them exposure to both spots this spring.
“If you were in our meetings and looked at our boards and our position depth charts, you’d see what we do: Let’s just get these guys as much exposure in spring training games to as many positions as possible, so nothing surprises them in season,” Kapler said. “It doesn’t mean that will be our configuration. We just want Joc comfortable there.”
Some other interesting positional lineups on the Giants’ internal depth charts include getting utility infielders Jason Vosler and Jason Krizan time in the outfield; catching prospects Ricardo Geneves and Patrick Bailey time at first base; and the usual rotation through almost every infield position for Wilmer Flores and almost every position, period, for Thairo Estrada and Maurcio Dubon.
“The way we’re using spring training … we don’t know what’s going to come up in the season and we want everybody to be prepared for any possibility,” Kapler said. “I think it was 2020 where Wilmer didn’t get enough reps at third base and we stuck him in games at third base and we remember that felt a little bit awkward to him. We just want to make sure that they play all the positions (and) that they see the game from those angles.”
If Wade is, indeed, the Giants’ left fielder on April 8, that would also ensure an 18th straight year with a different starting left fielder on Opening Day.
It could make Steven Duggar’s path to the Opening Day roster more difficult, too. Not only is Duggar one of the Giants’ few position players with a remaining option year, his spot on the roster would presumably come as the centerfielder against right-handers, providing an upgrade defensively with advantageous platoon splits.
But the Giants may be more likely to prioritize hitting with their lineups as their roster is projected by Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA tool to be the worst in baseball at scoring runs.
Despite acting as the Dodgers’ everyday centerfielder for two-plus years, Pederson has never rated positively in center, according to most defensive metrics. Since 2018, Pederson has mostly stuck to the corners, where defensive metrics rate him more favorably.
Ultimate zone rating offers one example: For their careers, Pederson owns a -3.6 UZR per 150 games in centerfield, compared to 5.9 for Yastrzemski and 6.0 for Duggar. Pederson’s value increases to 5.7 in left field and 2.8 in right, where he figures to appear most often this season. Offensively, Pederson’s career wRC+ against right-handed pitchers of 123 and Yastrzemski’s 126 far exceed Duggar’s wRC+ of 89.
“The probability is that when Joc, Wade and Yaz are all in the lineup, Wade plays left, Yaz plays center and Joc plays right. But we’re not opposed to having Wade play right, Joc play left to try to cover a little bit more ground out there in right-center field,” Kapler said. “We’re just going to see how Joc progresses through this camp.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com