San Francisco Giants Opening Day Roster Just About Set

The San Francisco Giants have just about settled every question regarding their opening day roster, and ended some roster battles.

There were a host of bodies in San Francisco Giants’ camp to open the spring, but the fat has been trimmed off the roster and the team is just about set for opening day. Most of the starting jobs were settled before camp, but the bench was wide open with plenty of competition. The lone open job in the lineup was left field, and while it’s not settled with one player, it is settled.

Jarrett Parker and Chris Marrero will share starting duties in a platoon, with the lefty Parker facing right-handed pitchers, and the righty Marrero facing the southpaws. Parker was pretty much a shoo-in from the start, with the team not wanting to expose him to waivers, but Marrero had to put in plenty of work just to make his way on to the roster.

A huge spring from Marrero pushed him to a 25-man roster spot, leading the way for the Giants with seven home runs, also tying him for second across all of baseball. If his home run against the Puerto Rican WBC team counted toward official statistics, he would have been second all by himself.

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A platoon is probably the best option for the Giants, considering Parker’s career-long struggles against left-handers. Last season was about as bad as it could get, with Parker hitting .108/.154/.216. The team apparently didn’t want a platoon with right-hander Mac Williamson, who has always hit right-handed pitchers better, but a quad injury hurt his case in spring and he may be better suited getting everyday at-bats down in Triple-A anyway. In Marrero’s case, he hit .309/.375/.463 against lefties in Triple-A Pawtucket last season.

Despite the battle for the fifth starter’s job, Matt Cain is back in the rotation to start another season. His chief competition was young lefty Ty Blach, and Blach did nothing to hurt his case during spring. He won’t start the season in the rotation, but he will make the opening day squad in the bullpen.

Will Smith‘s injury likely changed the complexion of this battle, facilitating the need for the Giants to have another left-hander in the bullpen to complement Steven Okert. Josh Osich‘s inconsistencies, both last season and this spring, hurt his case, and made Blach the best choice for the bullpen job.

The bench is also just about set, according to beat writer Alex Pavlovic. Marrero will obviously make the team as part of the aforementioned platoon, but will spend the majority of his days on the bench while Parker faces the righties. Unsurprisingly, Nick Hundley supplanted Trevor Brown as Buster Posey‘s understudy. The backup infielders will be Conor Gillaspie, last year’s postseason star, and newcomer Aaron Hill. Gorkys Hernandez is back for his second season with the Giants, and will serve as the primary backup in center and right fields.

The bullpen is the only part of the team that hasn’t quite been settled yet. Mark Melancon, Hunter Strickland, Derek Law, George Kontos, Okert, and Blach will make the team, but that final spot is still a bit of a question mark. Cory Gearrin looks like the guy to get it, but Neil Ramirez has made a great push this spring. He’s held opponents to a .182 average and struck out 19 in 11.1 innings, but asked for his release on Thursday if the Giants don’t have a roster spot for him.

Next: Giants Notes 3/30: Team Heads Home

San Francisco seems to have more power on this bench than in recent years, and their starting lineup still looks quite solid. The starting rotation will still be the strength of the club, and the bullpen might take some time as guys settle in to unfamiliar roles.

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