SF Giants Player Review 2026: Will Brennan’s strong spring failed to secure a lasting role

The SF Giants used 17 different players in the outfield last season, the second-most in the San Francisco era, tied with the 2017 and 2019 teams, and the most in MLB last season. Several of those outfielders made little to no impact at the major-league level. The player we're going to review today, Will Brennan, undoubtedly belongs in the "minimal impact" category, at least when it came to the big-league club.

Despite an encouraging spring training, the 28-year-old outfielder appeared in just 11 games with the Giants before losing his spot on the 40-man roster in June. Having several options on the table, Brennan could still return to Sacramento next season and again battle for a roster spot.

Brennan spent most of the year contributing in Sacramento

Before joining the Giants as a free agent last February, Brennan spent the first six years of his professional career in Cleveland after being drafted by the then-Indians in the 8th round of the 2019 MLB draft. Brennan appeared in 269 MLB regular-season games with the Guardians, hitting .267 with a .680 OPS and 14 home runs. An elbow injury that eventually required Tommy John surgery and a subsequent sports hernia cost him more than half of last season before he elected to hit free agency in November.

A member of the 40-man roster at the time, Brennan hit .325 with an .886 OPS in 44 spring-training plate appearances. Despite those productive numbers, the Giants opted for Jared Oliva's speed and Jerar Encarnacion's power as the backup outfielders behind Heliot Ramos, Harrison Bader, and Jung Hoo Lee.

Just over two weeks into the season, Brennan — who had posted a .392 batting average and .928 OPS over his first 11 games in Triple-A — received his first call-up after both Bader and Oliva had to be placed on the injured list. His stay in the majors, his longest of the year, lasted 19 days. He took nine at-bats across five games and failed to collect a hit. On May 4, he was optioned back as part of the offensive shake-up that brought Bryce Eldridge and Jesus Rodriguez to the majors to revive a lifeless group of hitters.

He would get called up a couple more times before eventually getting designated for assignment on June 10 to create room on the 40-man roster in the wake of Reiver Sanmartin's return. His only two hits with the Giants came on May 18 against Arizona and May 24 against the White Sox, opportunities he got after Heliot Ramos was placed on the injured list with a quad injury.

Brennan ended up clearing waivers and was outrighted to Sacramento on June 17. He would spend the rest of the year in the state capital. Over his last 68 games, Brennan hit .277 with a .786 OPS. He also had his moment. On September 8, he became the first River Cat since Austin Dean in 2022 to put together a three-homer game, the first of his career. He added five RBIs to that memorable performance.

All things considered, Brennan authored a solid season at the minor-league level but failed to carry that success over to the next level. He finished his season with a .302 batting average, .807 OPS, 11 home runs, and 63 RBIs in 95 games with the River Cats. That might be the type of player he's destined to be: a respectable minor-leaguer with major-league aspirations. He might prove me wrong as soon as next season.

Whether Brennan sticks around the organization or not remains to be determined after he signed a one-year split contract back in February. Given his service time, he could decide to hit free agency and look for another opportunity elsewhere. Or, he could return to the Giants on a minor-league deal with a spring-training invitation to try to make the opening-day roster, as unlikely as it sounds given the Giants' array of prospects on the grass.

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