Drew Gilbert is forcing Tony Vitello, SF Giants into a very tough decision

The SF Giants have been playing some better baseball as of late and one reason for that has been the solid play of outfielder Drew Gilbert. The 25-year-old has been filling in quite nicely for the injured Harrison Bader which could present a tough decision for manager Tony Vitello.

Gilbert has been swinging a pretty hot bat since he got called up on April 15. He is hitting .265/.306/.441 with two home runs and five runs driven in. Those numbers don't tell the whole story as he made some very loud outs over the weekend as well.

He's also been solid defensively in center field, making some nice plays and showing quite a bit of range. Unsurprisingly he has also provided some of his trademark energy and craziness to the team which may have helped Vitello loosen up a bit now that he's reunited with his former spark plug at the University of Tennessee.

Gilbert may force Giants to choose between him and Bader for playing time

Meanwhile, prior to Bader's injury he was hitting just .115/.145/.192 with one homer and three runs batted in. His struggles may have had to do with a hamstring issue that he'd been dealing with since the end of spring training and ultimately landed him on the IL.

There's not a clear timetable on Bader's return as of yet, but when he does come back Vitello will not have an easy choice on his hand. Does he stay with the hot hand and potentially get accused of favoritism or does he roll with the veteran even though he's been struggling?

He could opt for a platoon approach for a little bit, starting Gilbert against righties and Bader against lefties. No matter what, there isn't a completely obvious solution.

The most likely scenario is that Bader will be the starter again once he's healthy. A lot of fans won't like it, but Bader is a veteran and he's earned the right to work through his struggles. Maybe that hamstring really was holding him back and once he's healthy he will look like the Bader who slashed .277/.347/.449 last season with 17 home runs and 54 runs batted in last year.

The Giants can still get Gilbert some opportunities even if he's on the bench. He could get a start every now and then to give a regular outfielder a rest or he could pinch hit or pinch run in certain situations. It would also make sense to bring him in as a defensive replacement for Heliot Ramos late in games.

No matter what, the fact that Gilbert has even forced a tough decision is pretty impressive. He's playing well and definitely earning himself more opportunities no matter what even when Bader returns from injury.

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