Projecting the SF Giants Opening Day roster as regular season nears

The SF Giants have been playing really well in spring training, but we learned last year that does not always lead to a great regular season. Still, the team seems to have a little momentum heading into Opening Day under new manager Tony Vitello.

Some roster battles are coming down to the wire so the Buster Posey-led front office and coaching staff led by Vitello has some tough decisions to make in the coming weeks before finalizing the Opening Day roster.

Let’s take an educated guess at what that roster could look like with just a week and a half until the first regular season game of the year against the New York Yankees.

Projecting SF Giants Opening Day roster

Lineup:

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

Some fans aren’t sold on the idea of Arraez as the leadoff hitter which is fair. He may be better suited in the middle of the order where he can try to drive in runs and put the ball in play with runners in scoring position which is something the Giants have struggled to do at times in recent seasons.

Also, one might note that Jerar Encarnacion is in the DH spot rather than Bryce Eldridge. It still feels very much up in the air whether Eldridge will make the team or not, but given the fact that he’s still so young and Encarnacion is out of minor league options, it makes sense to give Encarnacion, a guy who can also play the corner outfield spots if needed, one final shot especially since he’s been hitting really well in spring training as of late.

Bench:

OF Luis Matos
IF Casey Schmitt
IF Christian Koss
C Daniel Susac

Like Encarnacion, Matos is out of options and has hit the ball quite well in spring training. It’s tough to see him getting a lot of playing time barring an injury, but the Giants probably do not want to give up on him just yet.

Schmitt and Koss did a lot of good things for the Giants last season and both have looked good in spring so they have both earned a spot on the team.

Susac is a Rule 5 guy so if the Giants don’t put him on the roster they’d have to give him back to the A’s which feels like a waste.

Rotation:

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

No surprises here. The interesting thing will be which young starters get the nod if a guy in the rotation goes down with an injury.

Bullpen:

1. Spencer Bivens
2. JT Brubaker
3. Gregory Santos
4. Matt Gage
5. Jose Butto
6. Trevor McDonald
7. Erik Miller
8. Ryan Walker

Easily the least predictable part of the roster, a lot can still change in the final weeks of spring training with this group. McDonald has pitched well enough to earn a spot and thankfully Erik Miller appears to be on track for Opening Day.

Matt Gage earns a spot over Joey Lucchesi since he is out of minor league options. Santos has been really impressive in spring so maybe he can have a great second act with the Giants.

This is simply a guess and some of these predictions will surely be wrong in a week and a half, but it will be interesting to see how the roster looks on March 25 against the New York Yankees.