San Francisco Giants Positional Preview: Left Field

As Spring Training approaches, we’ll take a look at the San Francisco Giants depth at every position. The sixth position examined is left field.

Left field has been a revolving door for the San Francisco Giants since Barry Bonds‘ final season in 2007, and while manager Bruce Bochy hasn’t outright said who the starting left fielder will be in 2016, that trend will continue. Angel Pagan is on track to be the Giants’ 10th opening day left fielder in 10 seasons.

After being strictly a center fielder for the past five years, Pagan has been supplanted in the middle of the outfielder by newcomer Denard Span. The major hope in the organization is that moving away from the physical demands of center field will keep Pagan healthier than he has been in the last three seasons with the Giants. He’ll have to re-acclimate himself to playing a corner outfield spot, which he hasn’t done since 2010 when he was a New York Met. He played 27 games in left field, and 33 games in right field that year.

Pagan played 133 games last season after missing 157 combined games in the two years prior, but it was chiefly apparent that he was far less than 100 percent for most of the year. After a trip to the disabled list in August allotted him about three weeks to rest his knees, he came back and played pretty well. In 31 games between September and October, he slashed .274/.346/.416, including hitting 10 of his 27 extra-base hits, and all three of his home runs.

When Pagan is healthy, he’s a really solid offensive player, and not as bad a defender as the fancy metrics would suggest. The major problem with that is, though, that he’s not healthy nearly enough. That’s where fourth outfielder extraordinaire Gregor Blanco comes in.

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Since Bonds’ departure, no Giants’ left fielder has played more games than Blanco, who has 227 games in left field. He was the starting right fielder on opening day in 2015 when injuries opened the spot. He was the starting center fielder through the 2014 postseason run. He was the starting left fielder through the 2012 postseason run. Blanco never has a set role, but he always finds a large chunk of playing time.

In addition to being a superb defensive outfielder, Blanco had a very nice offensive season in 2015. Working with Nori Aoki, 2015 left fielder of choice, helped Blanco learn to spread the ball around the field more, and he batted .291, the highest total of his career. He also hit a career-high 19 doubles and matched his personal best with five home runs. If Pagan goes down to another injury (maybe “when” is more appropriate), Blanco is there to take the reins, as he always seems to be. His role on the Giants can’t be understated, and he has become one of the most underrated players in baseball.

Before the offseason, there was a lot of speculation that Kelby Tomlinson, a career infielder, would get work in the outfield with the hopes of making him a super utility, Ben Zobrist type of player. He experimented in the outfield during instructional leagues over the winter, but it didn’t go very well and it seems that the Giants have scraped that plan for the time being. Maybe in the future the experiment can be re-tried, but 2016 doesn’t seem like the year for it.

Brandon Belt will be the Giants’ everyday first baseman, but he has played left field on occasion over the past few years, normally when Buster Posey gets a “rest” day at first base. It wouldn’t be surprising in the least for Belt to see more action in left field again in the upcoming season to get Posey out of the squat.

The Giants have two exciting outfield prospects on the 40-man roster that both got fairly extensive looks in September last year. Jarrett Parker, who turned 27 in January, and Mac Williamson, 25 years old, are both youngsters with a lot of pop, and should something happen that San Francisco needs a regular left fielder again, they both could fill the void. Parker seems like the first choice of the two after his explosive September, during which he hit six home runs in 21 games (including his historic three-home run, seven-RBI performance).

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Beyond those players on the 40-man roster, the Giants will have a lot of experienced outfielders in camp this Spring. Kyle Blanks has played 125 games in left field in his big league career, and his power potential (.518 minor league slugging percentage) makes him a viable option given an injury. Grant Green is a utility player who has been discussed a lot in these position previews, and his versatility (experience at seven different positions, 18 games in left field) and status as a former top prospect present an intriguing player.

Gorkys Hernandez is another non-roster invitee, and he can play all three outfield positions. He played eight games with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2015, and collected no hits in five at-bats. He does have a lot of speed, stealing 214 bags in the minor leagues. Ryan Lollis received some playing time in the outfield with the Giants in 2015, batting .167 (2-12), but was designated for assignment after the season and brought back on a minor league deal.

Next: San Francisco Giants Positional Preview: Third Base

Left field for the Giants is a question mark every year, and this year should be no different. With Pagan entering his contract year, the Giants are hoping that he can post a big season in hopes of getting a new deal in the offseason. If so, Pagan adds another dimension to what is already a very deep lineup. If not, he’ll be the weak point in that very deep lineup.

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