Joey Bart, Blake Snell, Landen Roupp, and Tyler Fitzgerald are in!
Opening Day is officially here. And the San Francisco Giants, after months of moves and weeks of speculation, have announced their Opening Day roster.
There are a few notable inclusions and exclusions, which I’ll cover here. If you want to uncover them for yourself, scroll to the bottom of the article to see the complete roster.
Perhaps the biggest note is that the Giants are starting the season with three catchers. While it felt clear from the day the team signed Tom Murphy that Joey Bart, who is out of options, would be waived or traded, Bart impressed all spring and made the team. It’s not feasible to carry three catchers (or just 12 pitchers) long-term, unless one is a regular designated hitter, so this isn’t a long-term play. Bart, as beat reporters Andrew Baggarly and Alex Pavlovic had suggested earlier this week, will likely be waived in a few days, but the Giants figure there’s a better chance of him sneaking through waivers after the season begins than before it, and they’ll be able to reassign him to AAA Sacramento if he goes unclaimed.
Blake Snell made the roster as well. While it’s unclear if the Giants will have him pitch the first time through the rotation, this suggests that they know he’ll be ready sooner rather than later, and didn’t want to place him on the 15-Day Injured List. Since they’re only carrying 12 pitchers, I wouldn’t put it past them to add a 13th — such as Mason Black — the first time through the rotation.
Speaking of adding pitchers, Landen Roupp made the roster after being the talk of spring. Roupp has never pitched above AA, and injuries limited him to just 31 innings last year, but he was clearly ready for the Majors based on his spring results. It will be interesting to see what role he’s used in … I would assume that at some point they try to see how he does as a starter, but he can work his way up there in a bulk innings role for now.
Marco Luciano did not make the roster, against my desires. Nick Ahmed will be the Opening Day shortstop and Tyler Fitzgerald — a tremendous story in his own right — will be the do-everything infield backup.
Austin Slater was healthy enough to make the Opening Day roster, so Luis Matos was optioned … but Mike Yastrzemski is going on paternity leave tomorrow, so I’d expect Matos to be up for game two.
Erik Miller, despite being optioned early in March, made the team as the second lefty reliever. He had a strong spring and gives the team a high-octane strikeout option in the bullpen.
In non-active roster news, Pablo Sandoval was released, rather than reassigned to AAA Sacramento. Pitcher Daulton Jefferies, who seemed a near-lock to make the roster, did not, but was reassigned to AAA. To make room on the 40-man roster for Ahmed and Roupp, the Giants designated Cooper Hummell for assignment and placed lefty Ethan Small on the 60-Day IL. Pitchers Alex Cobb and Sean Hjelle will start the year on the 15-Day IL, retroactive to Monday.
And that’s the news! Here’s the Opening Day roster!
Catchers (3)
Patrick Bailey
Joey Bart
Tom Murphy
Infielders (6)
Nick Ahmed
Matt Chapman
Thairo Estrada
Tyler Fitzgerald
Wilmer Flores
LaMonte Wade Jr.
Outfielders/DH (5)
Michael Conforto
Jung Hoo Lee
Austin Slater
Jorge Soler
Mike Yastrzemski
Right-handed pitchers (8)
Camilo Doval
Jordan Hicks
Luke Jackson
Tyler Rogers
Landen Roupp
Ryan Walker
Logan Webb
Keaton Winn
Left-handed pitchers (4)
Kyle Harrison
Erik Miller
Taylor Rogers
Blake Snell