San Francisco Giants 2019 Spring Training Preview: Outfield

The San Francisco Giants 2019 outfield situation is in many ways a complicated one.   The lack of established incumbents, new multi-positional philosophy of the Farhan Zaidi, and even the outfield dimensions of Oracle Park itself must be taken into account.  And this is not even to mention the recent almost frenzied signings of veteran outfielders to minor league contracts.

So rather than focus on players at the start, it might be best to focus on the job descriptions for the San Francisco Giants 2019 outfield.

First, one must consider the Oracle Park outfield itself.  In many ballparks the field is almost symmetrical so, other than the obvious factor that a right fielder should have a stronger arm than a left fielder, one can pretty much make a simply distinction between corner outfielders. and center fielders.  However, in Oracle Park this is really not the case.

Left field in Oracle Park is rather benign but right field in Oracle Park, with its 421′ alley and 24′ irregular wall, is perhaps the hardest to play of any outfield position in the major leagues.  Therefore, the job descriptions of San Francisco Giants outfielders are not the common corner outfielder and center fielder but, in reality, quite specific to left field, center field, and right field.

As left field does not require either a great arm or great speed it can be played by most anyone.  However, center field requires speed and right field requires both speed and a strong-arm so these positions are harder to fill.

Also, with the club’s recent habit of carrying 13 pitchers and possible wish to carry 3 catchers we may be looking at very few roster spots for pure outfielders in 2019.  Thus, unless the Giants finally realize that Pablo Sandoval is in fact also a catcher,  there may be only four outfield spots on the roster to start the 2019 season thus making versatility a huge factor in who ultimately makes the roster.