San Francisco Giants: Evaluating Christian Arroyo’s First Taste of the Big Leagues

The San Francisco Giants demoted Christian Arroyo back to Triple-A after the 22 year old hit .192 in 125 at-bats in the big leagues.

I still agree with the decision to promote Arroyo to the big leagues when they did. The Giants were, and still are, struggling to fine run production, and Arroyo was tearing it up in Triple-A.

When Arroyo first came up he delivered some big hits for the Giants and gave them a spark. Unfortunately, that spark was put out quickly as pitchers adjusted to the youngster.

He was hitting a solid .278 through his first nine games with 2 home runs and 5 RBI.

That was the high point for the rookie as he hit just .157 over his next 89 at-bats with 1 home run and 9 RBI and 24 strikeouts.

He did deliver some big moments for the San Francisco Giants. His first big league home run came against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 4-3 win. Two nights later he hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth to help the Giants beat the San Diego Padres 4-3.

He had a 3-RBI game on May 10 to help the Giants beat the New York Mets 6-5. He also had 2 RBI in a 3-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on May 20.

The San Francisco Giants don’t have a lot of wins this year, but you could say Arroyo is responsible for at least four of them.

The strikeouts were very alarming for Arroyo. He began to look lost and over matched at the plate.

We have to remember that he is still young, and time will tell if he can make the right adjustments.

I loved the call to bring Arroyo up when the Giants did, and I agree with the decision to send him down now.

I think Arroyo will go back to Triple-A and use his big league experience to improve at the plate.

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One thing that impressed me the most was Arroyo’s defense. I think he has the ability to stick at third base in the big leagues.

Before the season I viewed Arroyo as a super utility player. However, after watching him at the big league level I think he has a chance to become an every day player.

If Arroyo can go back to the minors, make some adjustments, and find his stroke again, I think we see him back up pretty soon.

Those who thought Arroyo was going to be a superstar need to re-adjust their thinking. I’ve never thought that about Arroyo, and still don’t.

Next: It’s time to admit the San Francisco Giants aren’t contenders in 2017

I believe he can be an average, every day major league player one day. Hopefully he makes the right adjustments in Triple-A and is back up with the big league club soon, but this time for good.