SF Giants: Mauricio Dubon should start at second base
The SF Giants would be wise to open the 2020 season with Mauricio Dubon at second base.
The SF Giants will hopefully begin their 2020 season at some point soon, and when they do get the ball rolling, Mauricio Dubon should be in the starting lineup at second base.
A native of Honduras, Dubon had been a journeyman minor leaguer before making it to the Giants. After being drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 26th round of the 2013 MLB June Amateur Draft, the Sacramento high school product played four years in their system.
Then in 2017, he played his first Triple-A ball with the Milwaukee Brewers’ affiliate in Colorado Springs. Dubon spent just under two years in the Brewers’ system before being shipped to the Giants in the Drew Pomeranz trade.
The Giants got an impressive return in this deadline-day trade. Before heading to the Bay Area, Dubon had played in just two career MLB games. His first start came on August 29, 2019, in a Giants’ loss to the San Diego Padres.
Although Dubon had a dubious start to his simulation season on Strat-O-Matic and is not even a part of the Baseball-Reference 2020 simulation, he should be starting at second base for the Giants this year.
With his young age and promising 2019, Dubon seems to be the team’s future at second base.
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In 2019, Joe Panik, who is now on the Toronto Blue Jays’ 40-man roster, played the majority of the season at second base with 85 starts at the position. Meanwhile, 32-year-old Donovan Solano started six more games than Dubon at second base for the Giants.
Solano (.330/.360/.456) out-hit Dubon (.279/.312/.442) last season, but Dubon had just 28 games to show for near the end of the 2019 season. Solano’s statistics came in 81 games played — primarily in the latter portion of the year.
With Solano being seven years older than Dubon, the Giants are better served to move Dubon into the starting role while having Solano serve as a utility player and pinch hitter.
Solano impressed as a pinch hitter (nine hits and three walks in 33 plate appearances) in 2019, the first year he played in the MLB since 2016.
Another reason Dubon should start is that Solano was very lucky with his hitting in 2020. Solano’s 2019 BABIP (batting average on balls in play) was .409, which is more than 100 points above the MLB average. Dubon’s BABIP was .305 in 2019 which is very close to the average.
With this all in mind, Mauricio Dubon would be able to flourish with the starting role in 2020.
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As most expect to see a shortened MLB season this year, Dubon can get the hang of the starting position during the regular season and can even make an impact on the postseason if the Giants get out to a hot start.