Pitchers
Logan Webb, R, 29
Always in the Cy Young award discussion
Robbie Ray, L, 34
Can he stay strong and repeat his fine 2025 season?
Landen Roupp, R, 27
Tony V will be watching his pitch counts carefully
Tyler Mahle, R, 31
Injuries limited him to 28 starts in last 4 years
Adrian Houser, R, 33
Has a two-year deal to prove himself in rotation
Ryan Walker , R, 30
Can he hold the closer rule he lost late in 2025?
Erik Miller, L, 28
Pitching well last summer when injury intervened
Jose Butto, R, 28
Arrived last year in exchange for Tyler Rogers
Keaton Winn, R, 28
Has yet to pitch a full major-league season
Spencer Bivens, R, 30
3.68 ERA over two seasons and 81 games
Matt Gage, L, 33
Lord knows, a lefty with a career 3.91 has value
Ryan Borucki, L, 32
Two-thirds of a scoreless inning in 2025 World Series
J.T. Brubaker, R, 32
Giants got him in Camilo Doval salary-dump trade
Caleb Kilian, R, 28
Can’t tell much from an 8-game major league career
Position Players
Willy Adames, SS, 30
First Giant since Bonds to reach 30 homers
Matt Chapman, 3B, 33
Tops at his position, needs plate resurgence
Rafael Devers ,1B, 29
So much depends on this slugger’s impact
Luis Arraez ,2B, 29
Born hitter, batting champion, shaky fielder
Patrick Bailey, C, 27
Rated as best defensive catcher in the game
Heliot Ramos, LF, 26
Solid numbers at plate, look out on the bases
Harrison Bader, CF, 31
Brings defense to an outfield lacking it
Jung-Hoo Lee, RF, 27
Quick bat, speed, and better suited to RF
Casey Schmitt, IF, 25
Plenty of innings await the utility man
Christian Koss, IF, 28
Giants have 3 shortstops and 5 outfielders
Jerar Encarnacion, OF/DH, 28
Can he stay healthy and prove he’s got punch?
Jared Oliva, OF/DH, 30
His good spring led to Luis Matos’ departure
Daniel Susac, C, 25
Brother of former Giants catcher Andrew Susac
Tony Vitello has an interesting group of players on his hands as the Giants prepare for Opening Night at home against the New York Yankees. The Giants have the look of a good team in a league, and a division, dominated by a great team (LA), and perhaps two or three teams poised to have a great season (Phillies, Padres, Cubs). And there are a lot of “good teams” in the Giants’ orbit—Reds, Brewers, Mets, Braves, Diamondbacks, perhaps even the Pirates—who, like Tony V’s team, are eyeing the three wild-card playoff spots, reachable these days with about 85 wins. There’s no question the Giants, as currently constituted, can do that. But will they?
Hiring Tony V away from our beloved Tennessee Volunteers was a bold and unorthodox move by Buster Posey. The Giants went with seasoned, experienced “baseball men” over the six years since Bruce Bochy retired, and the last four of those years were almost interchangeable-- .500 or thereabouts, teasing us with wild-card flirtations, tending toward face-palm moments down the stretch, watching teams of similar or less talent pass them by into the postseason and, in 2023, into the World Series. Enough already!
Enough already, agreed Buster, and he went out and found a guy with undeniable charisma, a guy renowned as a master motivator, and a man who attracts outstanding men to work around him. He’s done it— you pretty much need a scorecard, if not a Wikipedia page, to chart the Giants’ stable of new coaches. Everything about this team seems new right now, and it starts at the top, with a manager who has absolutely no professional baseball experience. Will Tony Vitello be the next Earl Weaver or Dick Williams, or will this go down alongside the Chicago Cubs’ 1960s “College of Coaches” as an experiment that failed?
The Giants have some of what every team wants and needs. They have power, with Rafael Devers and Willy Adames. They have Luis Arraez, a career .317 hitter, tops among active players, and one of the heroes of Team Venezuela’s WBC championship. They added an outstanding defensive center fielder to a stumbling, inadequate outfield—and likely took a lot of pressure off Jung-Hoo Lee in the bargain. They have a terrific defensive catcher and a legitimate pitching ace. They added depth to the starting rotation and changed out much of the league’s worst bullpen. On the downside, they don’t have much speed, the three starters behind Logan Webb and Robbie Ray all have injury histories, most of the relievers are unproven, there’s no dominating closer, and their infield defense will depend on late-inning replacements.
The 2026 Giants are not going to win the division away from the Dodgers. But looking at the rest of the National League field, “We could be the 2023 Arizona Diamondbacks” is not an unrealistic hope, given the current wide-open tournament-style postseason.
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