What SF Giants' Bo Davidson and Marcelo Mayer call-ups mean for Jung Hoo Lee and Casey Schmitt

Well, the SF Giants have done it. Every player from the 2026 Opening Day lineup is now either on the IL or with another team after Jung Hoo Lee was placed on the IL. Bryce Eldridge was wisely placed on the IL as well due to his head injury and Bo Davidson and Marcelo Mayer were called up to the big league roster while Philip Abner was designated for assignment after several brutal outings.

Both of these call-ups are exciting because Mayer was one of the top prospects in baseball just a few years ago before struggling with the Boston Red Sox. But now he is back on the West Coast and finally healthy so the Giants will get a look at him this last week of the season.

Bo Davidson has been on a tear as of late in Triple-A Sacramento and even though he fouled a ball off his ankle recently, the Giants will get a look at him as well. He has hit .290/.361/.527 on the year in the minors with 29 home runs and 94 runs batted in.

While the Giants will only get a week to evaluate both of these guys at the big league level, if they perform well there is a good chance they could influence the team's thinking going into the offseason on what to do with Jung Hoo Lee and Casey Schmitt.

Giants should be open to trading Jung Hoo Lee and Casey Schmitt in the offseason

Both Lee and Schmitt have become fan-favorites in San Francisco. Lee is obviously the bigger fan favorite. While Schmitt seems like a good dude and fans definitely like him, he does not have his own cheering section the way that Lee does.

Still, both guys looked great at times in 2026 and then struggled at other times or have pretty glaring weaknesses in their game which should make the Giants open to trading them in the offseason especially if they can get pitchers in return for them.

Lee was the hottest hitter on the team a few months ago, but his batting average has dropped precipitously in the second half and he is hitting just .211/.283/.284. Plus, his defense has not been as good as hoped for even with the shift to right field.

Schmitt's power was impressive this season as he ended the year with 21 homers in less than 100 games played before tearing his meniscus, but his low walk rate is definitely a cause for concern and makes one wonder how sustainable his success could be.

If Mayer and Davidson impress in this final week of the year, maybe the Giants feel a lot better about dangling both guys in trade talks in the offseason. And if you think the Giants wouldn't allow such a small sample size to influence their thinking, remember that they dealt two-time Gold Glover Patrick Bailey after seeing a little over a month of Daniel Susac and they dealt former All-Star Heliot Ramos after getting a taste of Victor Bericoto.

Maybe the Giants decide it's time to go with youth in the outfield and Lee doesn't quite jive with that plan. Maybe they feel Mayer can play second base and be just as productive as Schmitt and get on base more via walk like he did in the minors.

The Giants obviously need pitching, so maybe they could even package Lee and Schmitt in an offseason deal. What about a trade that sent Lee and Schmitt to the Seattle Mariners for Logan Gilbert and Emerson Hancock? Crazy? Maybe, but the Giants need to get creative to improve the pitching staff.

Perhaps this is just a brief audition and nothing more and it will have little bearing on San Francisco's calculations, but after how this season has gone some big changes need to be made even if that means trading away a fan favorite or two and rolling the dice on younger players to fill in for them.

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