SF Giants defense has been terrible so far with one supremely ironic exception

A lot of things have been bad for the SF Giants on their way to a putrid 3-8 start to the regular season. In fact, it’s hard to even think of anything that’s been particularly good. Yet, if one sifts through the trash they may find an unlikely ruby which is exactly what Luis Arraez has been for the team on defense so far.

San Francisco’s defense has been bad. Yet, if you had asked a fan on March 25 which infielder on the team would have three errors three weeks into the season, almost unanimously Arraez would have been the answer. Instead, Matt Chapman has three errors on his permanent record even if a few of those are debatable.

Luis Arraez has been surprisingly good on defense so far for SF Giants

Still, from the moment Arraez was signed, and especially once it was made clear that the Giants were going to use him primarily as a second baseman, there have been fears about his defense. He was basically relegated to first base with the San Diego Padres last season and no other teams in the offseason were willing to give him another chance at second base.

The Giants reasoned that having a premium contact bat like his in the lineup would outweigh whatever defensive hiccups he had, but ironically he has looked the best of anyone in the infield. He has yet to make an error and the advanced stats rank him in the top ten among MLB second basemen.

Obviously, it’s early. The Giants have only played 11 games so far so there is plenty of time for Arraez to start kicking it around. But beyond the stats he has passed the eye-test. While he may not have the widest range at the position, if it’s hit within where he can get to it he almost always gets a glove on it and he has a quick release when making throws. 

Perhaps having both Ron Washington and Ron Wotus in his corner has really helped him with the intricacies of the position. Maybe there is also a psychological boost from the Giants believing in him enough to put him out there consistently and wanting to prove that trust is warranted. 

The rest of the team's defense has been lacking, though. Chapman has struggled at third base and the team really doesn’t have any strong options defensively at first base. Willy Adames has been fine at shortstop and the outfield defense has been acceptable but the team’s fielding percentage of .981 is one of the worst in all of MLB. Even catcher Patrick Bailey, typically elite behind the plate, has not looked like himself so far this season.

Maybe the defense will come around at some point, but the sloppiness has been hard to watch to begin 2026.

To try to focus on the positives, Arraez has really been the team’s best player overall early in the season. He’s hitting .295/.298/.364 so he’s been pretty much as advertised at the plate and he’s been the best defender on the team so far.

If he were surrounded by guys in the lineup getting on base with regularity so his hits were driving in runs then his contributions would be even more noticeable, but the inconsistent offense has not allowed for that.

The Giants took a risk signing Arraez to be their everyday second baseman. But so far he is proving it was a wise decision even if the rest of the defense is a bit questionable.