SF Giants have (literally) hamstrung themselves on the right side of the infield

Ahead of Opening Day, it was becoming clear that the SF Giants were not going to have slugger Rafael Devers play first base as he recovers from a hamstring strain he suffered in spring training. The current configuration on the right side of the infield as a result of Devers' hamstring injury has, somewhat ironically, left the team a bit hamstrung.

On Wednesday night against the New York Yankees, the Giants had free-agent acquisition Luis Arraez start at second base while Casey Schmitt, who was San Francisco's second baseman for much of last season, played at first base.

It's an odd configuration especially since Arraez spent most of his time in the field with the San Diego Padres last season at first base.

The right side of the infield doesn't make sense for the SF Giants

So what accounts for this flip flop when, on paper, Schmitt should probably be the second baseman given his greater speed and strong arm and Arraez should be the first baseman while Devers tries to get healthy enough to play in the field?

Well, the Giants did sign Arraez on the promise that he would get an opportunity to play second base. That is something that other teams expressing interest in Arraez were not able to guarantee and Arraez has said it was a big factor in why he chose to sign with San Francisco.

Maybe the Giants feel like they owe it to Arraez to start at second base at least to begin the year and then reassess things if he proves he cannot handle everyday duties at the position. Arraez looked fine out there for the most part on Opening Day but there are inevitably going to be growing pains. Schmitt did struggle with a ball in the dirt at first which makes sense since he really only started playing the position last season.

For now, this seems to be the configuration the Giants will go with. If Arraez is locked in at second base due to an offseason promise then so be it, but if he starts making errors and lives up the the poor defensive reputation that preceded him then the Giants will have to make a change.

A lot can, and probably will, change on the right side of the infield over the course of the season. When Devers gets healthy enough to play first base that will give the Giants another option at the position and when Bryce Eldridge gets promoted he figures to see a lot of time at first base.

For now though, the Giants are seemingly stuck with a less-than-ideal setup at second base and first base. Maybe it will resolve itself in due time.