SF Giants 40-man roster entering spring training: no huge weaknesses or strengths

The SF Giants are about to start playing Cactus League games. That means there is no better time to take a look at the team's 40-man roster. There are no glaring weaknesses or clear strengths on the team which could make for another mediocre season.

Taking a look at SF Giants 40-man roster entering spring training

Let's start with the pitchers currently on the 40-man roster. We'll break them down into left-handed and right-handed pitchers.

Left-handed pitchers on 40-man roster: Robbie Ray, Erik Miller, Kyle Harrison

The Giants only have three left-handed pitchers on the 40-man roster and two of them are starters in Ray and Harrison. That means the Giants are likely to add at least one more left-handed reliever to the 40-man roster ahead of Opening Day. Veteran Joey Lucchesi is probably the early favorite. We will also see if the Giants will look wise to put as much faith in Miller as they are.

Right-handed pitchers on the 40-man roster: Tristan Beck, Hayden Birdsong, Spencer Bivens, Mason Black, Camilo Doval, Jordan Hicks, Sean Hjelle, Trevor McDonald, Carson Ragsdale, Randy Rodríguez, Tyler Rogers, Landen Roupp, Carson Seymour, Justin Verlander, Ryan Walker, Logan Webb, Keaton Winn

The Giants are obviously heavy on right-handed pitchers. We figure to see a lot of these pitchers this season and it is nice that the Giants have a good amount of starting pitching depth which could be a hidden strength for the team. Even if pitchers struggle or injuries occur, the Giants have arms like Roupp and Black who can be relied on to start games for the team. Roupp could even make the starting rotation with a strong spring.

Now, let's turn to the position players on the 40-man roster.

Catchers on 40-man roster: Patrick Bailey, Tom Murphy, Sam Huff

Bailey is obviously the starter, so any drama on the catching depth chart will be with who backs Bailey up. Murphy is the favorite, but Huff and catcher Max Stassi could give him a run for his money if they tear it up in the Cactus League.

Infiielders on 40-man roster: Willy Adames, Osleivis Basabe, Matt Chapman, Tyler Fitzgerald, Wilmer Flores, Marco Luciano, Casey Schmitt, David Villar, LaMonte Wade Jr., Brett Wisely

Chapman, Adames, Fitzgerald, Flores, and Wade are all pretty much guaranteed to be on the Opening Day roster. This position group may be the team's strongest factoring in Chapman and Adames. They figure to comprise one of the stronger left sides on the infield in the National League.

Basabe is an interesting wild card to look out for. There will probably only be one spot on the Opening Day roster for a backup middle infielder and he could snag it if he performs well but will have to beat out Schmitt and Wisely. Meanwhile, Villar could be making his last stand with the team this spring.

Outfielders on 40-man roster: Jerar Encarnación, Jung Hoo Lee, Luis Matos, Grant McCray, Wade Meckler, Heliot Ramos, Mike Yastrzemski

Ramos, Lee, and Yastrzemski figure to be the starters in left, center, and right field respectively to begin the year. But we should not sleep on players like Matos who had a strong winter in Venezuela or a potential surprise candidate like Meckler.

As you can see, there are no areas that stand out as huge strengths. The infield featuring Chapman, Adames, and Bailey as well as starting pitching depth are strengths, with left-handed relief options probably sticking out as the one main weakness.

We will see how things progress throughout the season, but as things currently stand the Giants have a fairly mediocre roster on paper that will probably win in the neighborhood of 80 to 85 games. However, the Giants have surprised everyone before so let's hope they can do it again in 2025.