San Francisco Giants 2017 Preview of NL West: San Diego Padres

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Sep 22, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres second baseman Ryan Schimpf (11) reacts after striking out to end the sixth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports /

Under the Radar Player

The Padres have a couple of them. Manuel Margot and Hunter Renfroe are both extremely good candidates. They’re two of the top prospects in their organization, and definitely MLB ready.

The thing with them is that a lot of people know about them now. That’s the only thing Padres fans can really bring up right now that doesn’t make them cringe thinking about it. Don’t get me wrong, Renfroe and Margot are going to be good. In fact, I think that these two, plus a couple other Padre prospects could help them build something here in the near future.

But when you are being brought up as preseason Rookie of the Year talks, you’re no longer “Under the Radar”. We used Puig from the Dodgers, but that’s because nobody is talking about him. The first thing mentioned about the Padres is, “Man! Margot and Renfroe are going to be exciting.” You know who people aren’t talking about? Ryan Schimpf.

Ryan Schimpf had the second most home-runs on the Padres last season. He also played just under 90 games. So barely half of the year, and he hit 20 bombs. Granted, he strikes out a lot. But even with a 30% K-Rate, he still hit 20 homers, had 51 RBI and had a wRC+ of 129. That would’ve been good for 8th most RBI, the most home-runs, and second in wRC+ on the Giants.

He can play both second and third base, but is definitely less of a liability at third. Yangervis Solarte‘s ability to play second likely sets them up well for Schimpf to take time at third. Plus, adding Erick Aybar helps, since they don’t have to play Solarte at short, stretching around the infield defense.