Latest SF Giants signing fits what the front office likes in a hitter

The SF Giants added to the outfield competition by signing former Cleveland Guardians outfielder Will Brennan to a split contract. The addition brings a lot of what the Giants like in a hitter to the table.

Latest SF Giants signing fits what the front office likes in a hitter

When the Giants finalized the Luis Arráez signing, Buster Posey drew from experience with this move. He mentioned that his teams generally had good contact skills, and that was part of what helped propel the Giants to winning three World Series titles in five seasons.

This is especially true in the playoffs. The Giants rarely had the best lineups, but they seemingly moved the line better than the opponent.

One thing that stood out about Posey when he talked about the Arráez signing is that he likes hitters to be the aggressor in the batter's box. This has been consistent with how the Giants approached the draft in 2025. They want hitters to attack pitches in the zone and put the ball in play.

They have a lot of hitters who work the count, hit for power, and strike out at a high rate. The Arráez signing, along with Jung Hoo Lee, add a little bit of variance to the lineup. They have elite bat-to-ball skills, rarely strike out, and put the ball in play.

The same is true for new Giants outfielder Will Brennan. He is very much the aggressor in the batter's box, even if that gets him into trouble sometimes. In four major league seasons, the left-handed bat has put up a 12.7 percent strikeout rate. In 2025, the league strikeout rate was 22.2 percent, so he is comfortably above average in that regard.

Brennan has an 86.9 percent contact rate on pitches in the zone and a 70.8 percent contact rate while chasing out of the zone. Those are good benchmarks, but the chase contact is problematic, especially since he has a relatively high 36.6 percent chase rate in his career. More often than not, swinging through a pitch outside of the strike zone is the better outcome.

There are a lot of ways to measure a hitter's effectiveness. For simplicity, we will just stick with batting average. Brennan has a .306 batting average on pitches in the strike zone, compared to a .178 batting average on pitches out of the strike zone.

The 28-year-old hitter is an aggressive hitter. He also makes a lot of contact, but the contact on pitches out of the zone is more contact than quality of contact. The Giants' hitting coaches will want to work with him on staying within the strike zone.

That said, Brennan is very much the aggressor at the plate. He may not carve out a big role with the club in 2026, but the profile is one that this front office likes in a hitter.