San Francisco Giants: AAA is Probably Best Starting Point for Hwang
The San Francisco Giants might have a great piece in Jae-gyun Hwang, but sending him down to Triple-A to start the season is probably the best move for him and the team.
One of the talks of camp over the past month-plus for the San Francisco Giants has been Korean import Jae-gyun Hwang. In his first taste of baseball in the States, Hwang has captured the imagination with hefty power and some slick defense at third base. He’s been so good in camp that he was given the Barney Nugent Award as the most impressive first-year player in Giants’ camp.
A superstar in the Korean Baseball Organization, Hwang has come over and made an immediate impact with the Giants. So far in this Cactus League season, Hwang is batting an impressive .349 with an outstanding 1.100 OPS. He’s hit five home runs, including three to the opposite field, showing off the power that made him one of Korea’s best. He hit 26 and 27 home runs over the past two KBO seasons, respectively, before signing with San Francisco.
Even despite opening so many eyes this spring, it seems Hwang is destined to start the 2017 season in Triple-A with the Sacramento River Cats. While that might seem like a bad move to some, it’s probably the best thing for Hwang at this point in his big league career.
Hwang himself has admitted that there are some areas of the MLB brand of baseball that he hasn’t quite adjusted to yet, particularly a strike zone that is lower and wider than what he’s used to in Korea. While strikeouts haven’t been a big problem for the 29-year-old (17.8 percent strikeout rate this spring), he hasn’t taken a walk in 45 plate appearances and has been behind in the count more often than not.
Versatility is also a facet of Hwang’s game that he wants to further prove to the Giants. He has mainly been a third baseman this spring, his natural position in the KBO, and has looked pretty smooth there. But with Eduardo Nunez and Conor Gillaspie having that covered in the big leagues, it would behoove Hwang to show that he can play other positions capably as he attempts to make the club.
He’s played first base and left field this spring, but hasn’t looked particularly comfortable in the outfield in his limited time there. In one memorable instance, Hwang got all turned around on a fairly routine flyball that ended up going over his head for an extra-base hit. Maybe he just needs a bit of work and seasoning in the outfield before he can play in a game situation, and Sacramento will give him the opportunity to showcase that.
Heading down to Triple-A not only allows Hwang to prove himself with the glove, but it gives him a better chance to adjust to the offensive side of the game. He will almost certainly be an everyday fixture in the River Cats’ lineup, and that will give him many more at-bats to see how the strike zone is called and what kind of offspeed offerings pitchers throw stateside.
Speed was also a staple of Hwang’s game in Korea, stealing over 20 bases four times in the KBO. He hasn’t shown off much of that this spring either, getting gunned down in his only stolen base attempt this spring.
So maybe the Giants are hurting their big league bench on opening day somewhat by sending down Hwang. But at the same time, they’re getting a more regular look at a player that could become more than a bench piece down the road. Hwang has looked like a star in the making down in Arizona, and the Giants could have a stalwart of the everyday lineup on their hands. Giving him the Triple-A at-bats doesn’t hurt Hwang, and ultimately will help him more than if he were to get five at-bats as a pinch-hitter in the big leagues.
If Hwang takes to Triple-A right away, the team can bring him up in a month or so and see if he can help the big league club. Maybe if Nunez struggles or gets hurt, or Jarrett Parker’s spring struggles carry over into the regular season, Hwang can slide right into the Giants’ lineup (provided he looks good in the outfield). If things don’t go well for him early, he can stay in Triple-A a bit longer than that and continue to work on his game.
Next: Giants Notes 3/25: Hwang, Bullpen
Hwang has been willing all along to play in the minor leagues before getting a chance at the show, and he seems downright eager in his words to play there and prove himself as more than a one-trick pony. There’s a lot of potential in Hwang, and the team can get a good look at him down in Sacramento.