No obvious fixes at 1B for SF Giants despite Casey Schmitt's rough defensive game

The SF Giants have gone with Casey Schmitt as their starting first baseman to begin this season. He was an unlikely choice given his relative inexperience at the spot and that may have finally caught up with the Giants on Wednesday against the San Diego Padres.

Schmitt made two defensive miscues which were ultimately charged as errors to third baseman Matt Chapman even though Schmitt probably should have made both plays. Chapman's throws were not right on the money, with one tailing into the runner and the other a bit high, but Schmitt himself said he should have had them. What matters most is that both plays resulted in a run for the Padres which shifted the momentum in the game. Headlines were made after the broadcast clearly showed Chapman pepper Schmitt with some NSFW words after he was unable to secure a throw from Chapman in the fifth inning.

Many fans may want the Giants to shake things up at first base, but there are no obvious fixes at the position right now.

SF Giants have no easy changes to make at first base despite frustration

Some fans may be wondering why Rafael Devers is not playing first base, but he is dealing with a hamstring issue which has relegated him to designated hitter duties for now so he is not a solution in the field for the time being.

Looking at the team's bench, Jerar Encarnacion is an option to play at first base. However, Giants fans clamoring for him to replace Schmitt should look back to last season when Encarnacion played seven innings at first base in 2025 and recorded an error. Encarnacion straight up dropped a ball at first in a game against the Colorado Rockies and was replaced defensively later in that game. He played 13 innings at first in 2024 and recorded an error as well.

That's two errors in 20 innings. Compare that to the two errors Schmitt has made at first base in the 173 innings he has played there over the last two seasons and it seems obvious that Schmitt is still a superior option defensively to Encarnacion.

Moving Luis Arraez from second base over to first base is an option, although Arraez did sign with the Giants on the understanding that they would use him primarily as a second baseman. Plus, Arraez made five errors as a first baseman in 2024 although he did cut that figure down to one in 2025. Errors do not always tell the full story on a player's defense, but he still graded out as one of the worst first basemen in MLB based on advanced statistics last season.

The last option could be to call someone up from Triple-A. Many fans were calling for top prospect Bryce Eldridge to be called up after Schmitt's error since a 6-foot-7 first baseman would have caught the ball, but keep in mind that Eldridge is still learning the position and has a long way to go until he is a solid big league first baseman even though he has made a ton of progress.

In short, Schmitt may still be the least bad option for the team at first base right now. Hopefully Devers gets healthy enough to play at first base so the Giants at least have another viable option there, but for right now Schmitt still seems to be the guy.