San Francisco Giants Positional Preview: Shortstop

As Spring Training approaches, we’ll talk a look at the San Francisco Giants depth at every position. The fourth position looked at is shortstop.

Despite the disappointing, and injury-filled end to the 2015 season, the San Francisco Giants featured a lot of bright spots. Maybe none were brighter than shortstop Brandon Crawford. Crawford was a workhorse again for the Giants in 2015, playing over 140 games for the fourth straight season. He was able to avoid the major injuries that decimated the roster in 2015, missing time only for mild oblique and calf issues, which occurred at the same time late in the season. He was as sure a defender as he’s always been, being awarded with his first career Gold Glove, and enjoyed a tremendous breakout season at the plate.

Crawford set myriad career-highs offensively last season, including 130 hits, a .256 average, 33 doubles, a team-leading 21 home runs, 84 runs batted in, and a .462 slugging percentage (73 points higher than his previous best). He was also rewarded with the Silver Slugger award, solidifying his status as one of the game’s best shortstops.

For his efforts, Crawford was given a hefty contract of six years worth $75 million, buying out his final two arbitration years and the first four years of free agency. Crawford has only gotten better in his big league career, and at 29 years old, he is entering what are generally considered to be his prime seasons. The shortstop position for the Giants is in good hands for the foreseeable future.

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Behind the Silver and Golden Crawford, the Giants’ next shortstop is Ehire Adrianza. Defensively, Adrianza is an excellent shortstop in his own right, but is a clear downgrade from Crawford with the stick. He’s been working hard this offseason to pack on some muscle to his wiry thin frame, adding 14 pounds over the offseason. Whether that translates to him finding more consistency and pop as a hitter remains to be seen. Adrianza’s roster spot is anything but set in stone.

Kelby Tomlinson is the primary backup to Joe Panik at second base, but came up through the San Francisco farm system as a shortstop in his first three seasons as a pro. He began a transition to second base in 2014 in Double-A with the Richmond Flying Squirrels, and he’s played 188 games at second base, compared to 91 games at shortstop since the change began. As a big leaguer last season, he played just once at shortstop, but he can use his experience to fill in there in case the team needs him to.

Two of the most intriguing non-roster position players in camp with the Giants this season are Christian Arroyo and Hak-Ju Lee, both of whom are natural shortstops. Arroyo, the team’s first-round pick in 2013 and current top prospect, hasn’t yet cracked Double-A, and probably won’t get to the big leagues this season. Lee is a former top prospect in the Tampa Bay Rays’ organization who has almost exclusively played shortstop. He has yet to regain that previous good form after a devastating knee injury in 2013, but the Giants could have a steal in this young player.

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Just like with second base, Grant Green and Ramiro Pena are both utility players who will add organizational depth at the shortstop position as well. Green has two games of experience at shortstop in his big league career, and is also a former top prospect with the Los Angeles Angels. Pena is a more natural shortstop, coming up through the New York Yankees’ system at the position. Either one could help the big league club at some point this year.

Rando Moreno, another non-roster invitee, was signed in 2011 by San Francisco as an international free agent, but has yet to moved above Advanced-A ball. He’s played a lot of shortstop through his minor league career, but he’s an extreme longshot to make the Giants’ roster at any point in the next couple of seasons.

Panik, as well as third baseman Matt Duffy are both shortstops by nature, but have since shifted to their current, respective positions where they have both thrived. Things would have to get very, very, very desperate for the Giants to shift either of them.

Next: Giants Positional Preview: Second Base

With Posey behind the plate, Panik at second, Crawford at shortstop, and Denard Span now in center field, the Giants are very strong up the middle. Their homegrown infield makes them a force to be reckoned with for the upcoming season, and Crawford is a strong, strong part of that.

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