Can Victor Bericoto settle into a platoon role for the SF Giants in 2027?

If Jung Hoo Lee and Drew Gilbert are part of the outfield mix for the SF Giants next season, they are going to need help from the right side. Could Victor Bericoto settle into a platoon role in 2027?

As a team, the Giants struggled badly against left-handed pitching this season. In those matchups, they slashed .233/.289/.369 (84 wRC+) with a 6.7 percent walk rate, 23.8 percent strikeout rate, and .136 ISO.

The wRC+ mark was tied with the Colorado Rockies for the worst in baseball. It was the second straight year that the Giants struggled against southpaw pitchers. If they are going to invest so much money in a roster with the hopes of competing, they simply cannot be so vulnerable in these matchups.

While changing the dynamic of the roster is tough to do, they could raise the floor by rostering players who give them better at-bats against left-handed pitching. This is tough to do in the infield, where much of the current core hits from the right side as is, but there are plenty of at-bats in the outfield.

In particular, Jung Hoo Lee and Drew Gibert struggled to a .613 OPS and .210 OPS, rspectively, in same-sided matchups. If there is no improvement from Gilbert, then he is unplayable in these matchups. The Giants need to find an alternative to take on those at-bats. Lee has not struggled quite to the level that Gilbert has, but he does not make much happen against left-handed pitching.

Victor Bericoto's numbers displayed mixed results in platoon matchups for the SF Giants

Could Victor Bericoto be part of the solution? In fairness, the Giants likely need more than one platoon-hitting outfielder to address their woes against lefties. That said, Bericoto could be one of those options.

Being a right-handed-hitting platoon outfielder is a difficult task, and teams are likely not all that enthused about reducing a young player, such as Bericoto, to that type of role. Playing time can be sporadic, but players have to be ready when their name is called. That is one of the many reasons why Austin Slater was so effective in that role.

Bericoto put up quality numbers against left-handed pitchers, slashing .273/.284/.439 (98 wRC+) with two home runs and six RBI in 67 plate appearances. That sample is likely too small to evaluate for a platoon role.

Another way to look at this is that Bericoto put up a .290 xwOBA against southpaw pitchers in 2026. This factors in quality of contact, and the league average rate was a .314 xwOBA, so he came in well below that mark. This could be due to making a lot of hard contact, but not pulling it in the air enough (7.5 percent) or hitting on the ground too often (48.8 percent).

Of course, Bericoto flashes intriguing power. However, this comes with plate discipline that needs to improve. He only walked in 3.4 percent of his plate appearances, which puts a lot of pressure on his power to generate offensive value. If his power goes through a cold streak, he does not reach base at a good enough clip to create value otherwise.

Could the right-handed bat assume a platoon role going forward? That could certainly be the case. That said, there was not enough in his numbers to conclusively suggest one way or the other in 2026. He would offer a better at-bat than some of the alternatives, but based on his 2026 numbers, not in a way that raises the floor of the lineup.

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