*Picks subject to change in coming hours based off exhibition game results/ mood/ peer pressure
The San Francisco Giants have vacated their Scottsdale premises and returned to the Bay for three final exhibition games with spots to be filled on their Opening Day roster.
We (you, me, my cat, your dog) have varying opinions about who should go where. There are a hundred different ways to cook an egg (I can do two of them), and there are plenty of ways to fill out the 26-man that aren’t wrong by any means. In certain positional jams, the Giants are debating between viable candidates; in other contests, the choice they make in the coming days kinda doesn’t matter. Whatever they decide for third-string catcher won’t swing the outcome of the entire season. And, unlike an egg who has a hard time jumping back out of the pan and into their shell for a re-do, the roster can change, and change quite easily.
What I decide here at home has even lower stakes. I may be dressed up in a full Giants uniform to write this (as I do with every article), but my ideas espoused here will have little real-world ramifications.
This a long preamble to shake out my typical line-straddling, my wiggling and waffling and flip-flopping. I’m going to be firm in my decision making for on my couch this morning, I am Bob.
Photo by Andy Kuno/San Francisco Giants/Getty Images
Back-up catcher
Easy. Sam Huff.
The reason: I miss seeing that monosyllabic onomatopoeic surname on the back of a Giants jersey…
Just kidding. It’s not that at all. The real reason is Huff is 27 years old and Max Stassi, the other catcher candidate, is 34. One is younger than me and the other isn’t, and I know how my body feels after a bike ride, or a simple push around on my skateboard.
Stassi missed the last two years with hip problems. Huff managed just 49 MLB plate appearances over that same span, but it wasn’t due to incapacitation: he just wasn’t as good as Rangers catcher Jonah Heim. So while Stassi was recuperating his geriatric bones, Huff was at least playing professional baseball, logging nearly 800 PA for Triple-A Round Rock in ‘23 and ‘24. Across three PCL seasons, Huff has an .832 OPS.
Both players put up similar batting lines this spring. Huff slashed .300/ .462/ .533 (39 PA) while Stassi slashed .304/ .360/ .652 (25 PA). Huff struck out 13 times but walked much more than Stassi. Contact was loud off both of their bats with Stassi posting a .500 BABIP and Huff a .407 BABIP. Defensively, Stassi has the edge and experience, with a 10 year career under his belt in which he compiled +26 Defensive Runs Saved.
So what’s the determining characteristic in a back-up catcher? Or really a back-up to the back-up catcher? A slab of meat to keep every pitch from rolling to the backstop, someone who can pop one over the fence every now and then, and maybe most importantly, someone who a couch-manager like us can trust to trot out every third or fourth game until Tom Murphy (knock on wood) heals.
I trust Huff physically more than I trust Stassi.
But at this point, could we just have Buster suit up?
Jerar Encarnación replacement / Bench
First, let’s be clear on Encarnación’s role. He got injured playing right field, he had some reps at first, but his main job 2025 Giants was going to be mash lefties as a designated hitter.
In my mind, this eliminates left-handed hitters from the conversation. Grant McCray is an exciting player who we want to see in the Majors, but it won’t help himself or the team if the club throws him into a role that doesn’t play to his strengths.
I have not thought about Jake Lamb once this offseason. He’s this season’s Nick Ahmed. The Giants don’t need that.
The debate is between David Villar, Casey Schmitt, and Marco Luciano.
Villar is 28 and out of options. He hit two homers in a game in April of 2023 and has been on a slow tumble from relevancy since. Maybe this is his big break? He hit his third homer of the Cactus League in the 9th inning yesterday as if to say, “Hey! Don’t forget me!”, but overall, his offense has been less than mediocre this spring, batting .200 BA (though some slug at .444), a 78 wRC+ (49 PA) and rough 36.7 K%.
When Encarnación initially went down, I thought the silver-lining was that this opened up a role for Casey Schmitt, who, it seemed, would have to wait his turn behind Wisely for the infield depth option. Schmitt teased power towards the end of last season and has maintained that momentum through spring with a .302/ .319/ .605 batting line (47 PA) all while dipping his strikeout-percentage below 20%. Schmitt has a history of success with platoon advantage too. Against southpaws last season, he batted .311 with a 169 wRC+ and a .333 ISO.
But then there’s Marco Luciano, who as Brady noted yesterday, is the most “accurate” Encarnación replacement in terms of team role: DH with power potential who can theoretically play the outfield. The softie in me says Luciano needs a win. He got jerked around last year and was reassigned to minor league camp weeks ago. If we are to stick to role pipelines, then Luciano is the next guy. The Giants kinda owe Luciano some at-bats after what he went through in 2024. Better late than never, right?
Is a pity placement the way we Bob Melvin cosplayers want to start out the season? If Luciano got the nod, it’d be one of commiseration. A better late than never Hallmark card, sorry for the missed September ABs, here are some April ones. Just look at the numbers: He’s hit on the interstate in Arizona and his power still has yet to germinate and bloom into on-field results.
I’m taking Schmitty. It might be nice to have someone on the team who can play third other than Chapman. So does this mean we lose Wisely? Naw, Wisely has shown he can put the ball in play and come off the bench well. He also has outfield experience, as does LaMonte and Fitzgerald.
My Opening Day bench: Sam Huff, Luis Matos, Casey Schmitt, Brett Wisely.
I think the Giants can make this work.
Bullpen
The Giants will have 13 pitchers on their roster come Thursday. Eight of them will be relievers. The first five of those relievers are locks, and the last three are my picks.
- Ryan Walker
- Camilo Doval
- Tyler Rogers
- Erik Miller
- Sean Hjelle
- Lou Trivino
- Randy Rodríguez
- Spencer Bivens
Bryan Murphy had veteran Lou Trivino on his own lock list. I can dig it. Trivino has a history with Bob Melvin in Oakland and 6-plus years of MLB experience under his belt, though he hasn’t pitched since 2022 due to Tommy John surgery. He’s had a very good spring with 8.1 scoreless innings and decent K-rate (9.72 K/9) that’s often been higher (11.24 K/9 in ‘22).
Randy Rodríguez can throw a baseball very hard. He can strike people out. He can throw multiple innings in relief. He reads a little like a right-handed Erik Miller — K-stuff with some erratic command — just with a little more length on his arm. In 8 games this Spring, he threw 9.1 innings allowing 2 ER on 7 H, 4 BB and 12 K. Highlight those dozen strikeouts (11.57 K/9). Better fastball command paired with a whoo-whee slider: Rodríguez can get MLB hitters out, it’s now about getting reps in.
After Friday’s game, I assumed Spencer Bivens wouldn’t open the season on the 26-man. Plenty of other players, mostly rotation cast-offs, appeared ahead of him for the long-relief role. But time has passed. My thinking has evolved, and I reckon there’s some wisdom in maintaining a clear continuity of roles for arms like Keaton Winn, Tristen Beck, Mason Black. If they are going to be starters, don’t have them wile away in the bullpen. Yes, it’s Major League experience against Major League hitters but maintaining routine and approach, i.e. getting consistent reps in a rotation rather than the randomness of bullpen playing time, is probably the most important thing for these players in their development. Also, Winn and Beck and Black are kinda volatile, and it’s nice to have someone like Bivens in your back pocket that can be relied on to throw strikes.
Fifth starter
This is the big one. A three-man race winnowed down to two after Kyle Harrison was optioned yesterday. It came as a surprise to us fake Bob Melvins, though the real Bob Melvin explained to Maria Guardado that Harrison’s relegation felt inevitable given how poor health slowed his spring progression.
So the competition is down to Landen Roupp and Hayden Birdsong. Tonight’s scrimmage in Sacramento is billed as the fight for the fifth starter spot. A scrum between two viable candidates. My preference has wavered often in these past couple days. My opinion, a house built on shifting sand; a sailboat subject to the whims of the wind.
But I must choose. The people (my cat) are counting on me!
If we were to go off spring merit, Birdsong would have the edge. In 12 innings pitched he posted a 0.75 ERA with a 13.50 K/9 and most notably zero walks. A penchant to lose the plate, especially with his four-seam, undermined some positive outings for the young right-hander in 2024. But so far this spring, he’s been able to pair velocity with command — a huge development.
Roupp’s 3.75 ERA (12 IP) doesn’t jump off the page as much but the inflated number was the result of his last start when he gave up 5-runs. Roupp had a blank sheet up until that point over his first three appearances, and in a High-A game against the Rockies last week he regained his form, striking out 8 in 5 innings.
Man, these are the kind of decisions that keep couch managers up at night. Or perhaps they’re the ones that lull them to sleep — because both are not just serviceable choices, but great ones. Both also come with roster flexibility (i.e. options). Birdsong is just 23 and might benefit from more Triple-A reps (he only has 9 innings logged in Sac) with an easy ramp to the Majors this year. But Roupp has experience in the bullpen and could serve as a long reliever there too while Birdsong fills the fifth spot initially.
It comes down to time for me. Age is a factor for us all. Luckily for me, writers often reach their stride after living for half a century (check back here in two decades if you really want to be wowed!). Starters have a more brief window of opportunity. Age and talent and excitement and opportunity are merging all at the right time for the 26 year old Roupp. Let’s see what he can do.