3 under-the-radar SF Giants players off to a good start in 2023

3 under-the-radar SF Giants players off to a good start in 2023

1. Infielder Thairo Estrada

It's becoming increasingly difficult for Estrada to be ignored on a national stage. Ever since he joined the Giants in early 2021, he has done nothing but produce for the team.

Through 33 games this season, the 27-year-old speedster has been on a tear at the plate; hitting seven doubles and six home runs with 23 runs scored, 14 driven in and a .344 batting average. His .929 OPS is well above-average and he actually owns the National League's highest Offensive Wins Above Replacement (oWAR) with 1.9 entering Monday's action.

Estrada's defensive abilities are not to go without mentioning either. He has lined up all over the infield and outfield for the Giants in the past few seasons and while he doesn't necessarily grade out as a top-tier defender at shortstop because of his poor arm strength, he does a solid job of holding down second base, which is his primary position by trade.

The strengths and weaknesses are incredibly apparent within seconds of opening Estrada's Baseball Savant page. He doesn't hit the ball very hard, but he efficiently makes contact to all fields, lays off bad pitches and uses his wheels on the bases to turn a single into either a double or an eventual stolen base with the rest of them, as evidenced by his 85th percentile Sprint Speed.

3 under-the-radar SF Giants players off to a good start in 2023

2. Pitcher Alex Cobb

After breaking into the league as a promising starting pitcher for the Rays way back in 2011, Cobb began to fade into anonymity once he left Tampa and joined the Baltimore Orioles. The righty played on some bad teams and saw his shine fade and his name no longer held the weight it had in previous years.

Sure enough, the second he left the Orioles, he began a gradual return to form. In 18 starts for the Angels in 2021, he went 8-3 with a 3.76 ERA and an extremely impressive 2.92 FIP. He turned that into a two-year deal (with a club option for a third year) with the Giants and has quietly been solid for the team.

Last year, he had a 3.73 ERA and 107 ERA+ while somehow managing to lower his FIP all the way down to 2.80 which would've put him fifth in the National League amongst qualified starters.

To begin the 2023 campaign, the 35-year-old has looked like a brand new pitcher, which is really saying something after how well he did last year. Through the first seven starts of his year, Cobb has a sparkling 2.01 ERA and 214 ERA+ to go along with a 2.95 FIP. He has struck out 38 batters while walking just six and has continued to limit home runs and keep the ball in the ballpark at the best rate he's had since all the way back in 2014.

Cobb is a "been there, done that" type of pitcher who has been around the league for what feels like forever. While he's never been an All-Star (that could change this year!), he's been a reliable innings-eater for every club he's been a a part of. It's nice to see him putting up such strong numbers as he gradually inches closer to hanging his cleats up.

3 under-the-radar SF Giants players off to a good start in 2023

3. First baseman/outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr.

Wade, 29, is another player who took a bit to find his stride in the big leagues, but he's shown time and time again why the Giants were smart to hold on to him through a rough 2022 campaign.

Coming off of a breakout performance in 2021 in which he hit 18 home runs with an .808 OPS and 117 OPS+, Wade came crashing back down to earth last year. In just 77 games, he managed eight home runs with a ghastly .207 average and 88 OPS+.

Fortunately, the Giants did not cut bait after his significant regression. Instead, they tabbed him as their starting first baseman and he has once again exploded offensively.

In 32 games so far, Wade has six home runs and 10 RBI, scoring 14 runs and posting an incredible .949 OPS and 163 OPS+. The latter number alone suggests that he's been 63 percent above league-average at the plate through the first month-plus of the season.

These numbers are great and all, but perhaps the most impressive aspect of Wade's performance so far has been his patience/eye at the dish. After walking in 8.7% of plate appearances in 2021, he bumped the number up to 10.4% last year. To start off this season, his BB% is all the way up to 20.3. He has drawn as many walks (25) as strikeouts so far, which is highly encouraging to see from a player who had previously struggled to draw free passes.