Buster Posey, SF Giants have a lot of questions to answer after rough start to season

The SF Giants played their 16th game of a 162-game journey on Sunday. Not even a tenth of the season has been completed, but it’s already been quite the rollercoaster. Various issues and concerns have been brought to the fore. The offense has been on and off. The first base position remains a major question mark. And though things are looking up, the outfield hasn't measured up either.

A pessimist would see all of the above as nothing more than a laundry list of problems and concerns. An optimist would view those issues as opportunities to get better and improve. The Giants could call up a couple of players from Triple-A Sacramento and give them a shot. They could give bench players more opportunities and see where that leads. Or they could do nothing and simply trust their players to figure it out; that might just work too.

Let’s go through a couple of this roster’s biggest open questions. The team and president of baseball operations Buster Posey have to answer these questions or else this will be another season of disappointment for fans.

Is that outfield trustworthy?

The offense wasn't supposed to be this group of outfielders' biggest issue. They added Harrison Bader to address last season’s defensive woes, and the early results have been rather encouraging. The bar wasn’t very high, though. The Giants’ three starting outfielders on Opening Day last year finished with respective Outs Above Average marks of -3, -5, and -9. While two of them — Heliot Ramos and Jung Hoo Lee — are still here, Bader’s lone addition appears to have brought the stability they badly needed. But remember, we’re still just 16 games in. Things could change, potentially for the worse.

The thing with Bader is that his offensive output has been close to non-existent. He's hit 6-for-52 (.152) with just one extra-base hit to start the year. The other two weren't much better prior to the Baltimore Orioles series, in which they finally found some sort of consistency. Lee and Ramos both came into the series batting under .200, and the latter led the National League in strikeouts. While he still fanned twice in the series, he also hit 4-for-11 (.364) and drove in three runs. Lee cleared the fence for the first time this season and posted a 1.000 OPS over the three-game series.

Given how Drew Gilbert has performed so far in Sacramento, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him at some point during this ongoing road trip. After missing most of spring training with a shoulder injury, Gilbert is slashing .289/.389/.400 with three RBI and one home run in 11 games for the River Cats. The Giants could use him in center field to give Bader a day off or in right field against a lefty in place of Lee, though he also scuffled against southpaws last season, posting a .325 OPS in 19 plate appearances. Jerar Encarnación remains an option in both corner spots, but he has struggled through his first eight games this season.

Where does Casey Schmitt fit best?

Schmitt could easily be labeled a super-utility player. Over his four-season career, he’s seen action all over the diamond: 24 games at first base, 84 at second, 49 at shortstop, 63 at third, and now six as the designated hitter. Four of his six appearances as the designated hitter have come this season and have, in fact, been his last four starts. He's hit 8-for-16 with four double, a home run and a 1.467 OPS in that spot this season.

But does his recent offensive surge have anything to do with the position he plays in? Probably not. His natural position is at second base, but the Giants "promised" Arraez he would get to play there when they signed him last offseason. After manager Tony Vitello did use him at DH last week against the Phillies, the 29-year-old reiterated his unwillingness to play the position.

"I don't like it, I'm too young for that. I like to play at second base. I love to go there and play defense and try to do the little things to help the team win."

Arraez has been far from a liability on defense this season; in fact, he’s been ironically good. And despite his struggles at first earlier in the season — which earned him an acerbic remark from Matt Chapman — Schmitt is still more than capable capable of playing the position, especially if Devers can't figure things out quickly enough.

He could also stay at DH for a while, but then what happens when Bryce Eldridge gets called up? Because yes, that's gonna happen at some point. The 6-foot-7 slugger has been brilliant in Sacramento, hitting .360/.492/.520 with five doubles, a home run, eight runs batted in and a 1.012 OPS as of Monday. Eldridge has also displayed an ability the Giants have sorely lacked: drawing walks. He's up to 10 on the young season, while the Giants rank last in baseball with just 33 in 571 plate appearances (5.8%). More importantly, he’s been getting daily reps at first base — first throughout spring training and now in his 13 games at Triple-A.

The obvious move would be to move Devers back into a DH role and use Eldridge as the everyday first baseman. Assuming the Giants follow through with their "promise", Schmitt would be relegated to an utility role. It's a tricky situation, but Tony Vitello and his coaching staff will ultimately have the final say. As of right now and as long as he keeps raking, Schmitt should definitely stick in the lineup — no matter where. He's been the Giants' most consistent and reliable hitter so far. Following Sunday's series finale against the Orioles, he's slashing .368/.429/.579 with a 1.008 OPS over his 11 games.

The Giants still have a lot to figure out. But the good news is that they actually have plenty of solutions to their early problems. Now, it's up to the coaching staff and Buster Posey-led front office to pick the best one.

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