San Francisco Giants Series against the Nationals: Three Takeaways

Mac Williamson Is For Real

Before the season started a lot of people were originally bullish on whether his new swing was just gimmicky, and a product of being hot in Spring. He started to dispell that notion with his hot start in Sacramento. But for him to show out like he did in the first couple games, including that monster shot in the series opener, was telling.

I have never seen a baseball hit that far by a right hander. Only twice I’ve seen it hit there from a lefty (Pablo Sandoval and Barry Bonds). But Williamson has also been solid in the field. He hasn’t made a mis-step yet, and he’s just fit in as an every day outfielder. The big question is what happens when Hunter Pence comes back?

Pence comes back on Sunday, but will have a few games in the minors to get back into the swing of things. It’s your typical rehab assignment. I’m going to assume that Pence isn’t actually brought off the DL until after Sunday’s game.

Williamson needs to be on this roster. He’s a good player, and has the stuff to stick at the big league level now. But the question goes, do they keep six outfielders?

Mac is forcing them to answer these roster questions. Gregor Blanco and Gorkys Hernandez have both done admirable jobs as the fourth and fifth outfielders so far. He’d certainly be ahead of them in the bench depth chart if they really were convinced that Hunter Pence should be playing every day. Six outfielders don’t make sense, especially when Austin Jackson, Blanco, and Gorkys are virtually the same thing. They don’t need three of those guys, especially if Duggar makes his way up here at some point.

We’ve already made our case for Mac replacing Pence as the full time left fielder, and I’m going to give Vince Cestone a ringing endorsement on that opinion.