This overlooked SF Giants outfielder could surprise everyone in 2025

When one thinks about young SF Giants outfielders, names like Heliot Ramos, Luis Matos, Jung Hoo Lee, and Grant McCray came to mind. However, one overlooked young outfielder could surprise some people this year.

Wade Meckler was called up to the Giants late in the 2023 season to try and jumpstart a moribund offense. Meckler was tearing it up in the minor leagues and the Giants were in dire need of offense so they rushed the young prospect who was drafted in 2022 to the big leagues and it showed.

Look out for Wade Meckler to be sneaky contributor for SF Giants

Meckler, touted as a contact-first hitter who got on base a lot, struggled to the tune of a .232/.328/.250 slash line in 20 games and 64 plate appearances with 25 strikeouts at the dish. Meckler was put in a tough spot having to learn on the fly when he was clearly not ready, so he spent 2024 in the minor leagues.

Across multiple minor league levels, he slashed .280/.366/.423 with 9 home runs and 41 RBI in 87 games and 383 plate appearances. He cut down on his strikeout rate in the majors, striking out only 61 times last season. It was not an incredible year by any means, but it was a nice bounce back considering his rough stint in the big leagues could have shaken his confidence.

Meckler is sort of the forgotten man among San Francisco’s outfielder prospects. With higher profile names like Matos, McCray, and Marco Luciano, Meckler can get lost in the shuffle. Giants beat reporter Alex Pavlovic recently identified Meckler as a potential breakout candidate for the Giants which is a good call. Meckler is flying under the radar, but if he has a strong spring he could make a push for a spot on the roster especially given the fact that he has solid speed and is good defensively in the outfield.

The player he would probably be competing with the most is McCray given they have similar profiles as left-handed hitting outfielders with speed. They will both be competing to be the fourth or fifth outfielder on the roster. Even if Meckler does not break camp with the team, we could end up seeing him in the majors this season depending on how things go in the outfield. Injuries happen so if he is hot at the plate in Triple-A he could be the outfielder that gets the call to join the big league team.

Meckler is not the biggest name among young Giants outfielders, but he could fly under the radar and end up being a solid contact-first hitter for the team this offseason.