2020 Giants season preview: Third baseman Evan Longoria

San Francisco Giants third baseman Evan Longoria put together a solid 2019 season. Can he build off that with an even better year in 2020?

Evan Longoria stepped up his game last year after a disappointing debut with the San Francisco Giants in 2018. Can he continue that trend and improve upon his 2019 performance?

With Kevin Pillar gone, Longoria will have to be one of the heavy lifters in the Giants offense. Last season, he hit .254/.325/.437 with 20 home runs and 69 RBI.

Obviously, those numbers are a far cry from his prime days as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays, but he was still a solid contributor and they will need more of the same in 2020.

Longoria has missed some time due to injury each of the past two seasons, playing in 125 and 129 games in 2018 and 2019, respectively. He is now 34 years old, so his health will be a key factor in how his 2020 plays out as well.

If Longoria is able to stay on the field, there is no reason why he cannot put up similar numbers to 2019. Plus, with how weak the Giants currently seem to be on offense, he is going to be a key factor in determining whether the team can consistently score runs.

He was projected to hit .249/.304/.426 with 18 home runs and 62 RBI by Baseball Reference, and I think that could wind up being close to a spot-on prediction for how his 2020 will go.

No one is expecting him to set the world on fire and regain his previous superstar form. But I think we can safely assume that if he is healthy, he will be a solid contributor in the middle of the lineup.

Longoria may be an expensive leftover piece of the aging corps that many fans deride, but he will at the very least make the Giants a little better in 2020. It’s important to find positives during a rebuilding season, and Longoria has a chance to be just that.