San Francisco Giants: Lesser Known NRIs to Keep an Eye on

With the Cactus League set to open, here are three lesser-known San Francisco Giants’ non-roster invitees to keep an eye on this spring.

The San Francisco Giants have brought in a number of their higher-rated prospects to show what they can do in Spring Training as non-roster invitees. Steven Duggar is in camp, competing to make the Opening Day roster as the center fielder. Andrew Suarez is competing for a spot in the back-end of the rotation, while Chris Shaw wants to prove that his power will help the team at some point in 2018.

Those are the more high-profile players on the non-roster list. They have been talked about again and again, and their names will continue to come up as the days pass in February and March. Among the lesser known non-roster players, though, are some very interesting names to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.

One of those names to watch is Alen Hanson. The 25-year-old utility player was, at one point, a top prospect in the PIttsburgh Pirates’ system (hey, another former Pirate!), making multiple top-100 prospect lists between 2013 and 2015. He hasn’t yet proven himself to a good big league hitter in 133 games spread across two seasons, but he does have plenty of attributes a team would love.

Most importantly, Hanson is versatile in the most extreme way. He’s a natural shortstop who has played second base and third base with regularity throughout his professional journey, and in recent seasons, and more recently, has taken to playing all three outfield positions as a big leaguer. In the second half of 2017, he played 18 games in right field, 11 in center field, and eight in left field with the Chicago White Sox.

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Hanson also has great speed, another attribute that could greatly help the Giants. His sprint speed last season, 28.6 feet per second, ranked him in the top 10 percent of players with at least 10 opportunities. He stole 11 bases last season, and has 205 stolen bags in his minor league career. He stolen 35 bases in the 2015 minor league season, and added 36 the next year.

The former top prospect should get plenty of opportunities this Spring, and if he can put together something positive with his bat, he’d make an intriguing late-inning option off the bench. With his ability to play almost anywhere and steal a bag or two to put the pressure on the defense, manager Bruce Bochy could certainly find a way to use him successfully.

A couple of pitchers who can make some noise this Spring are Dereck Rodriguez and Tyler Cyr, a pair of righties. Rodriguez was born into a baseball family (his father is Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez), but is still new to pitching.

Rodriguez is now 25 years old and just made it to Double-A for the first time last year, but he has a pretty good excuse: he’s only been a full-time pitcher for four years. He was drafted as an outfielder in 2011 by the Minnesota Twins, but after three seasons in Rookie League, during which he hit .216/.279/.336, he traded his spot in the outfield for the chance to toe the rubber. It seems he made a good choice.

Last season between High-A and Double-A, Rodriguez posted a 3.27 ERA and 1.193 WHIP while striking out 121 and walking 38 in 143.1 innings. He pitched to a 3.94 ERA and 1.341 WHIP in Double-A (75.1 innings). After he became a minor league free agent, Rodriguez joined the Giants this past offseason.

Rodriguez probably won’t see the big leagues this year, and quite frankly he might never, but it will be interesting to watch as he attempts to continue his progression as a pitcher. If 2017 is any indication, he’s moving in the right direction.

Cyr is coming off a tremendous, but somewhat surprising season in 2017, and with some question marks still left in the bullpen, he could pitch his way into the conversation. He spent the entirety of last year in Double-A Richmond, and worked to a 2.19 ERA while serving as the team’s primary closer (18 saves). He struck out 10.4 batters per nine innings.

Armed with a good sinker in the low-90s, Cyr was selected to pitch in the Arizona Fall League after the season. He had some great outings (six of his eight appearances were scoreless), but two outings in which he allowed five runs dragged his ERA down. He threw a clean ninth inning with a strikeout in the Fall Stars Game to earn a save.

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There are still some things for Cyr to work on (his walk rate was a bit higher than desired last year), and a lot of guys ahead of him on the depth chart. But a team can never have too much depth in the bullpen, and a strong Cactus League performance would certainly help to grab some attention.