San Francisco Giants: Players in Sacramento to Keep an Eye on in 2017
- Jae-gyun Hwang 3B/OF
One of the more intriguing pickups over the offseason, the Giants signed the Korean star notorious for his eccentric bat flips to a minor league contract with an invite to spring training.
The 29-year-old is coming off of the best season of his professional career, recording a slash line of .330/.391/.558 with 26 home runs and 104 RBI.
Funny enough, he played for the Lotte Giants of the KBO — I guess you could say he was meant to be a Giant.
In 10 seasons in the KBO, Hwang has a career slash line of .285/.349/.433 with 114 home runs and 585 RBI. He has also stolen 172 bases in his career, which shows he has some speed to go along with a great eye and some power.
Although a star, it remains to be seen how Hwang will transition to the MLB. If spring training is any indication, it seems like he will do just fine.
So far the 29-year-old slugger is hitting .324, has 4 home runs, which is the second most on the team, and has 10 RBI.
The main concern surrounding Hwang as of now is the fact that he has not drawn any walks in his 34 at-bats. Oddly enough, his .314 OBP is actually lower than his .324 batting average.
Despite this oddity, Hwang still could potentially make the opening day roster.
It is most likely he will begin the 2017 season in Triple-A Sacramento to develop further both offensively and defensively, but I imagine he will be on the major league roster at some point this season.
He has tremendous upside and it will be beneficial for Hwang to get regular reps in the outfield in the minors, since left field is a question mark for the Giants at the major league level.