San Francisco Giants: Tomlinson Turning Himself into a Weapon Off Bench

Kelby Tomlinson hasn’t always been able to find consistent time with the San Francisco Giants, but he’s becoming extremely valuable off the bench.

There’s never really been a consistent starting role for young San Francisco Giants’ infielder Kelby Tomlinson. Sure, the 27-year-old has had semi-extended stints as a regular due to various injuries to various players, but his playing time has always been, for the most part, inconsistent. As he continues to get at-bats in a mostly late-inning, pinch-hit role, he’s grown into a valuable weapon off the bench for the Giants.

Tomlinson’s success in the major leagues was immediate. He was called up late in 2015 because of an injury to Joe Panik, and collected hits in each of his first three at-bats en route to putting together a very impressive .303 average in 54 games as a rookie. The bespectacled infielder began the 2016 season on the opening day roster, but struggled to a .174 average in April. His swing got better as he became more comfortable in his role, and he hit .340 in May and June before a thumb injury landed him on the disabled list.

The 2016 season was the beginning of Tomlinson’s success as a pinch-hitter. He came off the bench for 20 pinch-hit appearances, and had seven hits in 17 at-bats while also working three walks. This year, he’s bounced back and forth between the big league club and the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, but has continued to establish himself as a more-than-viable option off the bench.

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In 2017, Tomlinson has been called upon more often as a bench option, getting 27 at-bats as a pinch hitter and picking up nine hits for a more than respectable .333 average. He came off the pine twice in the Giants’ last series against the Colorado Rockies, and came through both times.

On Monday, Tomlinson came up with a double, his first extra-base hit of the season, to score a run in what would be a 9-2 win. On Tuesday, he had one of the biggest hits of the day as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning when he dropped a single into right field off Jake McGee, tying the game at three. Six innings later, Denard Span would walk it off with a single in the 14th.

Off the bench, Tomlinson isn’t a game-changing player in the typical sense. There isn’t a whole lot of power from his bat – he’s only hit two home runs in his career, and just one of them has actually left the yard. His lone extra-base hit this season is a double down the right field line that came off his bat at 55 miles per hour on Monday.

Instead, his ability to keep a short, compact swing while playing somewhat sporadically and shoot line drives all over the field allows him to start or continue rallies. Then he when is on base, his speed (14 steals in 148 big league games, 49 stolen bases in Double-A Richmond in 2014) allows him to wreak havoc on the basepaths and put himself in scoring position for the rest of the lineup.

Another big point in Tomlinson’s favor is his defensive versatility. For a team that often like to keep an extra arm in the bullpen, having a player like Tomlinson that can play all over the infield and, in a pinch, the outfield makes him just that much more valuable. He’s played outfield sparingly in the big leagues (three games in left field in each of the past two seasons), and added center field to his repertoire earlier this season in Triple-A Sacramento.

His defense has also improved a lot since his debut, and while he’s not on the level of a Gold Glover like Joe Panik or Brandon Crawford, he is, at the very least, adequate all over the infield. He’s not a liability, and if a regular needs a day off or has to hit the disabled list, Tomlinson is more than capable of filling in.

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While the Giant have had a revolving door on their roster this season, Tomlinson has used the various injuries to secure himself a bench role and become a great weapon in the late innings. With age on his side, Tomlinson can be a threat for the Giant for a long while.

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