Three Lesser Known Players SF Giants Need To Target

SF Giants Under-The-Radar Targets
#1 Anthony Bass

Plenty of focus has gone to big-time closers on the free-agent market, but Anthony Bass is quietly one of the strongest middle-relief/setup options available. Originally developed as a starter by the Padres, Bass bounced between starting and long-relief until 2018. Since, he’s been a solid reliever for the Cubs, Mariners, and Blue Jays. Given the SF Giants lack of right-handed bullpen arms, he’s an easy fit.

Over the past three seasons, Bass has made 86 appearances, finished 31 games, recorded 12 saves, and posted a solid 3.44 ERA (3.63 FIP). Working primarily off a mid-90s sinker, Bass does not rack up strikeouts at an elite rate. However, there’s a strong argument to be made he was one of the best relievers in baseball in 2020 and might have more room for improvement.

Per expected ERA, which estimates a pitcher’s ERA based on their strikeouts, walks, and the quality of contact they allow, Bass pitched in-line with a 2.24 ERA, better than 98% of qualified pitchers. In fact, Bass’ opponents had one of the lowest barrel-rates in baseball. Both marks rank above top free-agent relievers Liam Hendriks, Brad Hand, and Trevor May.

Relying too heavily on the small sample size of the 2020 season is a cause for concern. Bass was considered solidly average in 2018 and 2019, which would still make him a solid addition to any bullpen, but far from the elite pitcher, he looked like in 2020. Still, there’s reason to believe Bass’ repertoire made strides that he can build off of.

Bass’ slider jumped from being an above-average pitch in 2019 (37.3% whiff rate/.289 expected weighted on-base average against) to an absolutely dominating one in 2020 (52.2% whiff/.194 xwOBA). While the pitch lost 1.5 miles per hour in velocity, it gained 2.1 inches of vertical movement. Given that Bass threw the pitch 39% of the time this season, there’s a large enough sample to believe those improvements are sustainable.

His sinker, which he threw 54% of the time, has never induced a lot of swing-and-miss but generates enough ground balls to make it a strong offering. Although, another tweak to his pitch usage might allow him to be a little less reliant on his sinker and take another step forward.

Only 6.8% of his pitches in 2020 were classified as splitters, but it looked like a legitimate plus pitch. Over the past three seasons, Bass has thrown a split-finger just 134 times. Opponents have whiffed on swings over 35% of the time and have gone just 3 for 34 when they did put the pitch in play.

By increasing his splitter’s use, Anthony Bass could begin to combine his abilities to limit contact with an even strong strikeout rate. Granted, even if further development is not in play, Bass was one of the best relievers in baseball in 2020 and has been a consistently solid reliever since 2018.

SF Giants Under-The-Radar Targets
#2 Brad Miller

SF Giants fans have been clamoring for Tommy La Stella, and the fit makes a lot of sense. Without an experienced left-handed hitter capable of playing second or third base, an addition could spell Evan Longoria and Donovan Solano. However, Brad Miller has been as good an offensive player and flashed competence in the outfield.

Miller and La Stella are 31-year old left-handed hitters with significant platoon splits and a propensity to walk, but aside from that, they have polar opposite offensive profiles. La Stella put the ball in play at a better rate than anyone in baseball last season. He has solid power but derives most of his offensive value from his batting average and on-base percentage. On the other hand, Miller has a lot of swing-and-miss in his game but has big-time power.

Despite their similarities, La Stella is a stronger defensive player and a better resume against same-sided pitchers. Over the course of his career, La Stella has a passable .702 OPS against southpaws. Miller, though has posted a brutal .224/.284/.334 triple-slash in 638 career plate appearances versus lefties. With it easier to consider La Stella an everyday player, more teams are likely to come calling.

For the Giants though, a player limited to a platoon is all they really need. Solano and Longoria are far superior hitters against left-handed pitchers than either Miller or La Stella. With so many right-handed-hitting options, the Giants don’t need to target the everyday ability of someone like La Stella. Granted, neither will be very expensive, but Miller’s limitation will make him cheaper.

Over the past three seasons, Miller has played every position except for centerfield, catcher, and pitcher, while hitting .247/.329/.468 with 27 home runs in 595 plate appearances. He’s been well below-average defensively at third but is solid at second and has rated well above-average in left field.

He has his shortcomings, but Brad Miller is a versatile defender with the big-time power that could be a great late-game pinch hitter and could consistently spell the Giants starters on the infield.

SF Giants Under-The-Radar Targets
#3 David Dahl

In probably the most surprising non-tender of the year, the Colorado Rockies decided to let 26-year old outfielder David Dahl enter the free-agent market instead of paying him around $3 million through arbitration. The tenth overall pick by the Rockies in the 2012 draft, Dahl has long been one of the organization’s best prospects.

From 2016-2019, Dahl hit .297/.346/.521 with an average of 36 doubles, 9 triples, and 26 home runs per 162 games and looked perpetually on the verge of becoming one of the best outfielders in baseball. He still has many of the tools that made him a top-ten pick in the draft. Scouts thought he had a legitimate ability to hit for average and power with the above-average speed necessary to be a solid centerfielder.

With that said, there’s no sugarcoating his 2020 season. Dahl was limited by a shoulder injury to just 24 games and hit .183/.222/.247. While still young, this was not the first time he’s dealt with a severe injury. Since 2014, Dahl has only played in more than 100 games in a season (in the major and minor leagues combined) once. There’s still plenty of reason to believe that Dahl can be a big-time player, but his health remains a perpetual concern.

Many will point to Dahl’s home-road splits, since he played his home games at Coors Field. Over his career, Dahl has hit .318/.361/.556 at Coors and .248/.302/.420 everywhere else, including a .513 slugging percentage in 41 plate appearances at Oracle Park. However, recent research has begun to pushback on the benefits of playing for the Rockies.

While Coors Field is obviously a hitter’s paradise, substantial evidence suggests that it has a detrimental impact on players when they play on the road. DJ LeMahieu has become the perfect example of how Colorado’s home-field may be a disadvantage to some hitters. In his final three seasons with the Rockies, LeMahieu hit .345/.409/.479 at Coors Field and .277/.327/.405 on the road. Since joining the New York Yankees, he’s become one of the best hitters in baseball.

Dahl’s 195-point dip in OPS away from Coors is far less concerning in comparison to the 156-point gap that LeMahieu showed before leaving. In fact, Dahl’s OPS on the road was just 10 points lower than LeMahieu’s in his final three years with the Rockies and was over 50 points higher than LeMahieu’s road OPS during his entire tenure in Colorado.

Defensively, Dahl has been a league-average defender at all three outfield positions over his career, although he’s been best in right field. His career .857 OPS against right-handed pitchers could make him the perfect fourth outfielder capable of platooning with Mauricio Dubón in centerfield.

Even if Dahl will never reach the ceiling many had projected, he is well suited to be a rotational contributor for the Giants in 2021. Still, at his age, and given the uniqueness of playing in Coors Field, there’s plenty of reason to believe his best has yet to come. Furthermore, whoever signs him this offseason, will be able to tender him a contract for arbitration in 2022 if he has a bounceback year.

While fans fantasize about the SF Giants 2021 roster, they’ll obviously spend a lot of time considering the biggest names at the top of the free-agent market. However, David Dahl, Brad Miller, and Anthony Bass could all be huge upgrades to their roster. Each could fill an obvious need and, in the case of Dahl and Bass, might have even more upside.