Who is the SF Giants backup center fielder to Jung Hoo Lee?

No, seriously. Do the SF Giants have a backup plan at center field or is Jung Hoo Lee going to have to play 162 games out there in 2025?

Who is the SF Giants backup center fielder to Jung Hoo Lee?

The Giants do expect their regulars to be in the lineup more often than not. For much of the past half decade, they leveraged platoon matchups more aggressively than just about any team in baseball. This led to a lot of moving parts, different lineups, and defensive alignments.

In his first season as Giants manager, Bob Melvin swung the pendelum back toward a more traditional approach. Perhaps, it is fair to say that the bench even went underutilized at times.

With all that being said, Lee will still need a day off here and there, especially since he has sustained season-ending injuries in each of the past two seasons. The Giants are hopeful that this does not occur in 2025. However, they still need a backup center fielder, so who is it?

Behind Lee, Grant McCray is the next best center fielder on the 40-man roster. He is off to a rough start this spring as he has tallied two hits with nine strikeouts in 16 at-bats. The Giants know that there is still some development left for McCray to realize, and there is a good chance that occurs in Sacramento to begin the year.

Mike Yastrzemski has typically graded out favorably in center field. However, that was something the Giants rarely pursued last year even while Heliot Ramos struggled badly to cover center field. In fairness to Ramos, he was put out there due to need.

Maybe Ramos sees time in center field if Lee needs a day off. It is a suboptimal arrangement as Ramos was worth -15 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), -7 Outs Above Average (OAA), and -6 Fielding Run Value (FRV). These are the type of numbers where teams typically just close the chapter on that being an option. The Giants may not have many other alternatives.

Jerar Encarnación is off to a strong start in the Cactus League and has likely already won a spot on the Opening Day roster. He is a below-average runner with a strong arm and might be best suited for left field if the Giants want to use him in the outfield at all.

That leaves Luis Matos. Matos had a strong showing in the Venezuelan Winter League, and he hit his first home run on Sunday. He has six hits in 21 at-bats so far. Playing time is an indicator of players teams usually want to see, and the young outfielder leads the club in at-bats.

I think one thing Matos has shown in his major league career is being able to take advantage of mistake pitches. Even with his home run on Sunday, it was a pitch intended to be a low-and-away breaking ball that hung over the middle of the plate that he hit over the left field wall. Major league hitters need to be able to take advantage of those mistakes, and he has shown that ability.

Where does he play defensively? He appeared in center field in a game recently but continues to be challenged in the outfield. This was evident when he misplayed a ball on a looping line drive in left field in Saturday's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The defensive metrics view him as a corner outfielder. He has appeared in center field in each of the past two seasons but has struggled mightily at the position. During that time, he has registered -9 DRS, -6 OAA, and -8 FRV. Similar to Ramos, it might be a case where Matos can fill in as a spot starter in center field, but not much more.

Outfield defense has been a major issue for the Giants in recent seasons. They are returning many of the same players. Health will be a pretty big factor in determining whether they can turn it around. As for having a backup to Jung Hoo Lee, the Giants might be extremely challenged in finding one.