San Francisco Giants Positional Preview: First Base

As Spring Training approaches, we’ll talk a look at the San Francisco Giants depth at every position. The second position done is first base.

In typical San Francisco Giants‘ torture fashion, the team went down to the wire with their first baseman Brandon Belt, not settling on a deal until 45 minutes until their scheduled arbitration hearing. But that has been settled, and Belt can now focus on the upcoming season as the Giants’ everyday first baseman.

Belt was enjoying a mighty fine 2015 season before the curse of his bad luck struck again. He was slashing .280/.356/.478, and had sent career-highs with 18 home runs, 68 runs batted in, and 56 walks, adding a team-leading 33 doubles before a concussion struck and ended his season on September 18th. He was also playing great defense, being named a Gold Glove finalist while leading all major league first basemen with a -0.4 defensive rating and an 8.6 UZR.

The usual gripes still remain with Belt, as he is as streaky a player as there is in the game, and his strikeouts remained fairly high in 2015. His 26.4 percent strikeout rate was second on the Giants to Justin Maxwell‘s 27.7 percent (minimum of 200 plate appearances). The strikeouts are tolerable as long as he continues to produce at the plate and be impeccable at first base.

More from San Francisco Giants

Belt’s deal, worth $6.2 million, came after speculation that he and the team were working on a long-term deal, but that may not be out of the question yet. On the day before Fanfest, Giants’ Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations expressed an interest to lock Belt up for the long-term. He could be patrolling first base a lot longer than the one extra season of arbitration eligibility he has left.

Buster Posey will continue to be the everyday catcher (despite throngs of fans asking for him to be moved to first base), but as has been the case for a few years, he will spend a lot of his “rest” days at first base to give his knees a rest from the squat. Posey has proven to be a capable first baseman defensively, and usually sees a bit of an offensive uptick on days he plays the position (.500 slugging percentage, 14 extra-base hits in 41 games at first base, .447 slugging percentage and 30 extra-base hits in 105 games at catcher). If Belt’s persistent bad luck streak continues, Posey will likely get a lot more time at first base to keep the offense up, as was the case in late 2015.

The depth at first base was very slim towards the end of last season, as Nick Noonan, Ehire Adrianza, and Kevin Frandsen all started at first base in September. With the addition of Kyle Blanks , the depth this season should be a little better. Blanks has primarily been an outfielder through his big league career, but does have 93 games at first under his belt. He will probably begin the season in Triple-A with the Sacramento River Cats, but could possibly be called up if something were to happen to Belt. His big power potential makes him an intriguing addition to the team.

More from Golden Gate Sports

Behind those three, Conor Gillaspie has played 14 major league games and 29 minor league games at first base, adding additional depth and a left-handed bat. Gillaspie could force his way on to the Giants’ opening day roster as the backup third baseman with a strong Spring, as well.

Grant Green is a lot like Frandsen: a middle infielder who has adapted to the game enough to learn to play just about anywhere on the field. Though primarily a second baseman and left fielder, Green does have six games in the big leagues and 29 games in the minors worth of experience at first base. With his versatility (he has played every position but catcher), he could be called upon for a lot of different purposes.

Adrianza played one game at first base in 2015, but that didn’t end well. A weird bounce on a groundball gave him a concussion, a common problem for San Francisco in 2015, ending his season a few weeks early.

Next: Giants Positional Preview: Catcher

The question of injuries always lingers, but if Belt can finally stay healthy in 2016, first base is in good hands. With Posey behind him, there will be a potent hitter at first base day in and day out.

Home/San Francisco Giants