History shows potential SF Giants plan in right field may be recipe for disaster

The SF Giants have yet to add a proven right fielder this offseason which leads one to believe they may be leaning towards rolling with their younger players in right field next season. The last time they did that it did not turn out great.

San Francisco made some waiver claims this offseason for Joey Wiemer and Justin Dean, but they had to put them both on waivers to make room for other players on the 40-man roster. That means that if the season started tomorrow, they would have Drew Gilbert, Luis Matos, Jerar Encarnacion, and Grant McCray as their options in right field.

Potential SF Giants plan in right field could backfire

There is still plenty of time for the team to add someone. Maybe they surprise everyone and make a splash for Cody Bellinger or perhaps make a more modest addition like Harrison Bader. History shows it would be wise for them to add a player who could handle everyday duties in right field.

Back in 2017, the Giants entered the season planning on employing a platoon of Mac Williamson and Jarrett Parker in left field which seemed problematic from conception. An injury to Williamson led to Chris Marrero making the team after a hot spring.

The strategy did not work out as planned with Williamson slashing .235/.288/.397 with three homers and six runs batted in across 28 games while Parker slashed .247/.294/.416 with four home runs and 23 runs batted in. Marrero had just five hits in 38 at-bats and was let go after just 15 games.

That trio is roughly comparable to the Gilbert, Matos, Encarnacion triumvirate the Giants may very well enter 2026 with. All three of those guys showed flashes last season, but they have not been anywhere consistent enough to warrant regular play.

Maybe some sort of platoon amongst those three would work if they are able to manage the three and get the most out of them, but it seems like a stretch to think that strategy would work for an entire season.

Gilbert brings the most to the table defensively while Encarnacion has the most power and Matos has the best bat-to-ball skills. If they could somehow be combined into one player that would be perfect, but each has different components that could be harnessed.

The Giants only won 64 games in 2017 which was not all because of the uninspiring plan in left field, but president of baseball operations Buster Posey had to suffer through that season as a player so maybe he should learn from that ill-conceived plan and go get a more established option in right field for next season.