San Francisco Giants: Three Non-Roster Invitees to Watch

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Mar 25, 2016; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy (15) talks with Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost (3) prior to the game at Scottsdale Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports /

Here we’ll take a look at three San Francisco Giants non-roster invitees to keep an eye on during spring training and see if any can crack a spot on the big league roster.

The San Francisco Giants have invited 29 guys to spring training, and that number is still growing as Gordon Beckham was recently signed as a non-roster invitee.

As we all know, it’s difficult for non-roster invitees to make the major league roster out of spring training because that means the team would have to add them to their 40-man roster. If the team’s 40-man roster is full, then they will have to release a player in order to add them, so there has to be a huge benefit to adding someone to a 40-man roster.

Still, we see it happen every spring, with Ryan Vogelsong being one of the more popular non-roster invitees to make the San Francisco Giants team out of spring training in recent memory.

It’s also very difficult for players who still have minor league options to make the major league roster out of spring training as non-roster invitees. For that reason, we won’t be looking at some of the San Francisco Giants top prospects in this article like Tyler Beede, Christian Arroyo and Steven Duggar.

All three of those players certainly have a chance to crack the big league roster this year, but I’m doubtful that any of them will out of spring training. Duggar might have the best shot if he impresses this spring.

Instead we are going to focus on some of the veterans that the San Francisco Giants have brought in to provide some experience and depth.

MLB: New York Mets at San Francisco Giants /

Justin Ruggiano

Giants fans may remember Justin Ruggiano hitting a grand slam for the New York Mets last year off of Madison Bumgarner in an exciting game in which the Giants won 10-7.

That was a bright spot in a very limited season for Ruggiano as he only received 26 big league plate appearances last year between the Mets and Texas Rangers.

He did very well in those at-bats picking up 8 hits and two walks. However, he also struck out 10 times in those 26 plate appearances.

He was mainly used as a right-handed bat off the bench as 20 of his plate appearances came against left-handed pitchers. Throughout his career he’s hit left-handed pitching very well with a .275 average and .338 on-base-percentage with 27 home runs in 499 at-bats.

The veteran has spent parts of eight seasons in the big leagues playing for the Rays, Marlins, Mets, Rangers, Dodgers, Cubs and Mariners. He has a career average of .258 and an on-base-percentage of .322.

He spent the majority of last season with the Mets and Rangers Triple-A affiliate where he hit just .229 in 175 at-bats with a .322 on-base-percentage and 7 home runs.

What makes Ruggiano so attractive is his ability to play anywhere in the outfield. He’s pretty much Grego Blanco with a little more pop in his bat from the right-handed side of the plate.

Ruggiano will be in competition with Mike Morse for the fifth spot in the outfield. Morse does have the versatility to play first base, but not center field. And with Posey and Belt handling the duties at first base, I don’t think Morse will be needed unless an injury occurs.

Jimmy Rollins

The signing of Jimmy Rollins was very intriguing to me this offseason. Obviously Rollins is at the end of a great career, but you wonder what he has left to offer a team that is trying to win a World Series?

He certainly has the experience and confidence needed on a championship team, and you hope that he instills that confidence on this team during spring training and possibly into the season.

Rollins has spent the vast majority of his career at shortstop, which is a position that is locked up for the San Francisco Giants by Brandon Crawford. In order for Rollins to have any chance of cracking this lineup I think he’ll need to show that he’s versatile enough to play second base as well.

The signing of Gordon Beckham makes it even tougher for Rollins to make the big league team out of camp because Beckham has already proven that he can play short, second and third.

However, Rollins has spent 17 years in the big leagues for a reason. He’s a great ball player, and you just hope he can showcase that ability one more time.

Last year was quite the struggle for Rollins as he hit just .221 in 41 games for the Chicago White Sox, and he only hit 2 home runs. Even though he doesn’t look like a power hitter, he’s hit double-digit home runs in 12 seasons, including as recent as 2015 when he hit 13 with the Dodgers.

What makes Rollins so attractive is that he’s a switch hitter, which is perfect for coming in as a pinch-hitter. I would feel very comfortable late in a game with Rollins coming off the bench in a big situation.

MLB: Chicago Cubs at Arizona Diamondbacks /

Neil Ramirez

If you haven’t read my article on the issues with the San Francisco Giants bullpen last year, then you may not know that I’m very concerned with the lack of strikeout guys in the bullpen.

The San Francisco Giants bullpen was dead last in strikeouts last year – granted they also threw the fewest innings. But I believe that had a lot to do with the Giants having the most blown saves of any team last year.

Neil Ramirez is a guy who could get you a big strikeout late in games. In 81.2 major league innings he has a K/9 rate of 10.1, which would have been third best on the Giants last year.

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He struck out 24 batters in 24 innings last year splitting time between the Cubs, Brewers and Twins.

In nine minor league seasons he has a career K/9 of 9.6, which is just over a batter an inning.

Ramirez was a starting pitcher the first six years of his career, but was converted over to a relief pitcher in 2014, which got him his first shot in the big leagues. He posted a 1.44 ERA for the Cubs that year in 43.2 innings pitched with a K/9 of 10.9.

He backed that up the following year with a 3.21 ERA in 14 innings with a 9.6 K/9 rate.

The San Francisco Giants are hoping that last year was just an aberration, and that the 27-year-old right-handed pitcher can find his form again that made him so reliable out of the Cubs bullpen in 2014.

Next: San Francisco Giants: Top 10 Center Fielders in Franchise History

There will obviously be a lot of competition in the bullpen this spring, but I think Ramirez has a very good chance of making the team if he can strikeout right-handed hitters on a consistent basis.

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Here we’ll take a look at three San Francisco Giants non-roster invitees to keep an eye on during spring training and see if any can crack a spot on the big league roster.

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