San Francisco Giants: Who was the biggest disappointment in 2019?

Steven Duggar

Written by: Melissa Dickson

New season, new management, and perhaps some new players? The San Francisco Giants 2019 season depended heavily on the performances shown by all players, old and new.

Heading into the 2019 season, the young faces were being closely watched with expectation and anticipation. One in particular who had made his MLB debut in the prior season was center fielder Steven Duggar.

With the team in desperate need of outfielders, fans and management were eager to see Duggar play a full season after showing great promise in 2018.

Unfortunately, disappointment prevailed.

Despite having 120 more at-bats than the season before, his 2019 RBI count only went up by 11 and his batting average sunk from .255 to .234.

With such a set up in 2018, everyone had high hopes for the 25-year-old from Clemson University and they were disappointed when he was outshined by players like Alex Dickerson and even by rookies like Mike Yastrzemski and Jaylin Davis.

The numbers were worse, yes, but more important than that, there was no fire when Duggar stepped into the batter’s box. Almost every swing felt empty, without purpose.

Singles? Forgotten. Occurring at times that would amount to nothing. Doubles? Rare. Home runs? Hard to recall. There was simply too little cause for hope if he was the one making his way to the batter’s box with two out and two on.

So what is the next step? Give him another season to try to figure things out?

Unfortunately for Duggar, a new coaching staff in 2020 means no attachments to young players who showed glimpses of potential upside in 2018. In the end, 2019 may have been his opportunity to impress.

Instead, he has landed himself in the “biggest disappointment” category, left to await his fate as spring grows ever closer.