Why a young SF Giants infielder might be a good insurance option at second base

When the SF Giants drafted Casey Schmitt in the second round of the 2020 draft, they hoped that he might turn into an everyday player at third base. Those plans have changed, but Schmitt could still play himself into an important role in 2025.

Why a young SF Giants infielder might be a good insurance option at second base

There is no clear path to playing time for Schmitt on the left side of the infield. Matt Chapman and Willy Adames are expected to hold down third base and shortstop, respectively, for the foreseeable future.

Both Chapman and Adames are some of the more durable players in baseball. Chapman appeared in 154 games last season, whereas Adames played 161 games with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2024. Barring an injury, both will be in the lineup on a daily basis, leaving little playing time for someone like Schmitt at third base and shortstop.

The Giants have stretched out Schmitt at shortstop while he is still learning the nuances of the position. After two seasons at the position, the Giants have enough data to know that he should probably only see playing time at shortstop as a spot starter.

The addition of Adames shifts the team's primary shortstop from the second of last year, Tyler Fitzgerald, to second base. Bob Melvin and Buster Posey have spoken favorably about the breakout rookie this offseason and have seemingly committed to him being the starter at second base.

That is not too terribly surprising given the year Fitzgerald had. The right-handed bat slashed .280/334/.497 (132 wRC+) with 15 home runs, 34 RBI, and 53 runs in 341 plate appearances in 2024. This included a 6.5 percent walk rate, 31.7 percent strikeout rate, and .217 ISO. Plus, Fitzgerald adds an element of speed as he swiped 17 bases in 21 opportunities.

The overall production was excellent from the rookie infielder. He did have a high strikeout rate but he offset that with above-average power. He will need to continue to do that. If he is going to have a strikeout rate above 30 percent, then he will need to hit for a lot of power.

That said, it was a tale of two seasons for Fitzgerald. He had an incredible stretch at the plate where he hit home runs in five straight games in the middle of July. Through the first four months of the year, he posted a .965 OPS with nine home runs and 19 RBI in 135 plate appearances.

Fitzgerald did not start to see regular playing time until that home run streak. Baseball is about making adjustments and pitchers started approaching him differently. Fitzgerald excelled at pulling the ball in the air, but pitchers challenged him up in the zone and on the outer half of the plate. He struggled to make contact on the high fastballs and did not do much damage on pitches on the outer third of the strike zone.

In the final two months, Fitzgerald registered a .745 OPS with six home runs and 15 RBI in 206 plate appearances. That is likely closer to the production that the Giants should expect. However, his Steamer projections see him as putting up a .688 OPS in 2025.

There is so much that happened with Fitzgerald's 2024 season that it is difficult to evaluate what type of player that he truly is. He had an incredible stretch in July and followed that up with a quality finish to the year. If he continues to struggle against his scouting report, then the Giants may need to consider making a change down the road.

This is where Casey Schmitt comes into play. The young infielder has wrinkles in his profile as well. His chase rate is way too high, which usually results in a low on-base percentage for a player. That could be the case for Schmitt, so he will need to offset that with power.

The right-handed bat had a nice finish to the year. Overall, he slashed .252/.283/.477 (109 wRC+) with six home runs, 16 RBI, and 11 runs in 113 plate appearances. He tallied nine hits in 21 at-bats in the final month of the year. Admittedly, September stats can be misleading for a few reasons.

Both Schmitt and Fitzgerald have different offensive profiles. Neither player is going to get on base at a high rate, so they will need to generate value elsewhere. For Fitzgerald, it will need to be by taking advantage of mistake pitches. For Schmitt, it will be by trying to make good swing decisions. Either way, the Giants may need insurance at second base if Fitzgerald struggles. There is no clear path to playing time for Schmitt, but there could be down the road.