One final SF Giants Opening Night roster projection (with a new bullpen twist)

It is almost here. On Wednesday the SF Giants will play their first regular season game of the season against the New York Yankees. Most of the roster spots are locked in, but there are still a couple of question marks.

Let’s do one final roster projection ahead of the season that includes a few potential twists.

Final SF Giants roster projection ahead of Opening Night

Lineup

1. 2B Luis Arraez (L)
2. SS Willy Adames (R)
3. 1B Rafael Devers (L)
4. 3B Matt Chapman (R)
5. LF Heliot Ramos (R)
6. RF Jung Hoo Lee (L)
7. CF Harrison Bader (R)
8. DH Jerar Encarnacion (R)
9. C Patrick Bailey (S)

This is the same Opening Night lineup we recently projected. The one big question mark is whether Bader will be good to go as he deals with a hamstring issue. If he isn’t, maybe Jared Oliva gets the nod in center field thanks to an impressive showing in spring training especially with the speed he has shown off on the bases.

Bench

1. OF Luis Matos (R)
2. IF Christian Koss (R)
3. IF Casey Schmitt (R)
4. C Daniel Susac (R)

No big surprises here. Schmitt and Koss have both done well enough to retain the roles they held last season. Matos is out of options and was solid in Arizona as well. He can technically play center field although the Giants would probably prefer him in the corners.

Rotation

1. Logan Webb (RHP)
2. Robbie Ray (LHP)
3. Tyler Mahle (RHP)
4. Adrian Houser (RHP)
5. Landen Roupp (RHP)

Again, no big shocks here. The bigger question will be who the Giants call upon from the minors if a guy gets injured. Trevor McDonald has fallen off since his hot start to spring training so they may have to go with someone else like Carson Seymour.

Bullpen

1. Ryan Walker (RHP)
2. Erik Miller (LHP)
3. José Buttó (RHP)
4. Spencer Bivens (RHP)
5. Matt Gage (LHP)
6. JT Brubaker (RHP)
7. Michael Fulmer (RHP)
8. Ryan Borucki (LHP)

The recent addition of Borucki on a major league deal does shake things up and provide a little bit of a twist. It’s a bit of a surprise especially since the Giants recently brought back lefty Joey Lucchesi, but a team can never have too much depth when it comes to relievers.

Obviously, this is just the first iteration of the roster and so many things will change by the end of the season. It would not be a shock if the bullpen looked completely different in September so while it’s fun to project the roster the team will break camp with, it is done with full knowledge that a lot is going to change over the next six months of baseball.