SF Giants Player Review 2026: Christian Koss has competition for next season

Of all the players who got opportunities after the SF Giants lost most of their players either to injury or dealt them away at the trade deadline, infielder Christian Koss probably got the most playing time. Once Willy Adames was done for the year, Koss was essentially the everyday shortstop and while he did some positive things, especially down the stretch, he didn’t necessarily excel when given his opportunity.

In 70 games he hit .217/.257/.305 with four home runs and 12 runs batted in. It was definitely a step back from 2025 when he also got a fair amount of opportunities due to injuries and he hit .264/.309/.368 with three homers and 23 driven in.

Defensively it was something of a mixed bag. He was probably playing out of position at short since the Giants were so undermanned when he’d be better suited for second or third base and graded out okay overall but he made some truly jarring errors at shortstop.

Koss has essentially been the team’s de factor utility infielder the last two seasons after he really impressed in spring training prior to the 2025 season. He’s got a little bit of Matt Duffy in him if Duffy had a bunch of tattoos and while he should factor into the equation next season as well, he now has competition.

Marcelo Mayer may be biggest threat to Koss in 2027

San Francisco acquired Marcelo Mayer at the trade deadline in exchange for Erik Miller in a deal with the Boston Red Sox. Mayer played a little bit for the Giants at the end of the season and did not really do much, but the former first-round pick is likely going to be Koss’ biggest competition to make the roster in 2027.

San Francisco will probably only carry one infielder on the bench assuming no one gets traded and they still have Matt Chapman, Adames, and Casey Schmitt in the mix in the infield. 

Maybe they will use Schmitt as more of a utility man but no matter what, the Giants need to do a better job of managing their veteran players next season. Manager Tony Vitello deferred to his vets in year one but in year two they need to be getting regular days off more often after all the injury carnage the team had to deal with.

That could mean more playing time for Koss if he makes the team so if he does get an opportunity again in 2027 he will have to take greater advantage of it than he did in 2026.

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