Fielding guru could bring more Gold Gloves to SF Giants infield

The SF Giants are reportedly closing in on hiring of Ron Washington to new manager Tony Vitello’s staff as the team's infield coach and the general consensus is that it’s one of the Giants’ best offseason acquisitions to date.

Washington has an impeccable reputation around the league as a coach and infectious lover of the game, and while his experience leading the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels will be a positive influence on a rookie manager, his biggest contribution will be shoring up a lackluster Giants defense.

SF Giants' defense should improve after reportedly hiring Ron Washington

They ranked 16th in Defensive Runs Saved and 23rd in Outs Above Average in 2025 and president of baseball operations Buster Posey has indicated defense will be a key priority for 2026. Nobody is better suited than Ron Washington who, in his last tenure as a coach (not manager) with the Atlanta Braves, brought them from a 25th ranking in DRS to a respectable 14th, along with some players like Ozzie Albies crediting him as the most crucial part of their success.

Can Ron Washington turn the Giants into Gold Glovers?

Matt Chapman is the only infielder with any defensive hardware, accumulating five Gold Gloves (one with the Giants), and two Platinum Gloves as the league’s best defender overall when he was in the American League. He is most certainly not a concern. The rest of the infield has some question marks.

Early in the year, Willy Adames was trending as one of the worst defensive shortstops in the league and for most of the season the Giants couldn't even settle on who was going to be playing the right side of the infield regularly.

That being said, Washington now has some solid building blocks to work with. Chapman is still Chapman. Adames showed improvement as the year went on. Casey Schmitt, unless the Giants make an offseason move, pencils in at second base and his strong arm and solid glove could trend toward some hardware once Washington gets hold of him.

Rafael Devers showed some promise in his transition to first base that could flourish under Washington’s tutelage. Bryce Eldridge has received some encouraging praise from the likes of former Gold Glover J.T. Snow for his work at the position and as the Giants’ top prospect could grow into a stalwart defender with Washington’s help. It will also be interesting to see how much Washington can improve a questionable bench including players like Christian Koss and Tyler Fitzgerald.

Overall, this is a huge win for the San Francisco Giants and maybe this is finally the move that helps them move beyond what has become a tiring yearly goal to improve the defense.