The team’s most exciting player?
2024 stats: 96 G, 341 PA, 15 HR, 17 SB, .280/.334/.497, 136 OPS+, .154 ISO, .217 ISO 2.8 bWAR
Ahhhhh, what a refrershing player. As heartening as Heliot Ramos’s development was this year, as cool as Patrick Bailey’s emergence was last year, it’s Tyler Fitzgerald’s 2024 that sparked the imagination. A power-speed combination that evokes the best of the current generation of players. As much as the San Francisco Giants are stuck in last decade, here’s a player who has a toe in the 2020s.
I like to think of myself as someone who’s aged out of having a “favorite current player” on my favorite team, but when I allow myself to consider who mine might be on the current roster, my mind drifts towards Tyler Fitzgerald.
Now, “favorite player” isn’t supposed to be a rational conclusion based on time-honored and mathematically sound processes, but it’s also true that I’m a blogger who is supposed to pay attention to other factors beyond my feelings. Luckily, Fitzgerald’s performance for most of this past season make labels like “favorite player” and even “potential team MVP” pretty easy to justify.
In my player review last year, I was jubilent beyond reason about Fitzgerald, while also tempering that excitement with the fact that 1) the Giants stink at developing prospects (historically) and 2) most prospects look great in small sample sizes before flaming out. But let’s look at my words from a year ago and compare to what happened this season:
Speed, power, and defense characterized Tyler Fitzgerald’s profile and see all three of those elements translate to the big leagues even in just a 10-game, 34 plate appearance sample was a relief. Encouraging. Exciting. Promising.
[…]
Is he the Giants’ version of Chris Taylor? A right-handed hitter with some pop who can play all around the field, particularly at critical defensive positions?
He… sorta was? That versatility was perhaps a little overblown — in terms of effectiveness — but he did play 6 positions: shortstop (594 innings), second (38 innings), center (63.1 innings), left (22 innings), first (8 innings), and pitcher (3 IP). We learned that he’s probably not a great shortstop (-4 Outs Above Average, 31st percentile arm strength), but last year’s flashes don’t look like a mirage.
That pop was very real this past season. His .217 ISO was tied with Christian Walker’s and both were in the top 35 of MLB (min. 300 PA). The key going forward will be adjusting back to the league’s adjustment to him. His first 200 plate appearances: 14 HR on a .998 OPS. His final 141 PA: 1 HR and a .597 OPS. Maybe he’s not a shortstop and maybe he’s not a starter or maybe he just needs a little more time to steep in the major leagues.
And then there are the stolen bases. 17 isn’t a remarkable number — particularly with the many new rules that have increased the league’s average — but he has stepped in to that speedster role that Thairo Estrada once held (23 stolen bases in 2023, 21 in 2022). It’s a facet of their offense the Giants could really stand to shore up. Fitzgerald might not be the leader on that future speedforce, but he’s a good starting block. In any case, I was an early adopter of this not-so-young-youngster (he turned 27 on September 15).
In early April, I concocted this cockamamie playing time schedule because of this vain notion that the Giants read my posts (I’ve been told they sometimes do — for better or worse!). My reasoning then was pretty clear:
We’ve seen this playout many times before. The Giants bench a young player, he presses when he gets his next opportunity and the Giants bury him (RIP Heliot Ramos). But Fitzgerald’s speed, power, and versatility create a package that’s simply too big to ignore. We shouldn’t react to small samples in the early season as fans, but as bloggers? Humm Baby, let’s make some bold declarations in order to generate posts.
And that’s why reviewing Fitzgerald’s full 2024 season feels so good. None of this changed. He was the player who excited at the end of last year and fulfilled on his promise this season. In July, as he approached what would be the end of a 200-plate appearance hot streak, I wrote another article in praise of his talents: “The most valuable position player (right now).”
My conclusion for that piece holds up even as we pick through the carcass of another failed Giants season:
In conclusion, Tyler Fitzgerald is a man of many talents. He’s one of the fastest players in the league who happens to be an above average hitter with defensive versatility and enough speed to take advantage of the new opportunities afforded baserunners because of the defensive shifting & pitcher throw over limitations. He’s the Giants’ not-so-secret weapon.
He was a a player who played well enough to be considered for some Rookie of the Year votes but didn’t receive any. That makes sense. The expected stats and a 32% strikeout rate are suboptimal qualities for a player aiming to be successful long-term. Oh well. I’m just going to watch this highlight package from when Fitzgerald homered in 5 straight games:
It’s true that he petered out and that could be indicative of a guy who had his moment in the spotlight and in 2025 will play himself into an afterthought role, but I’m going to be optimistic, because why not? It’s hard to look at an exciting player and presume that all of it will fizzle away, especially if he’s not counted on to be an every day player. He might not be a contributor on the next great Giants team, but he’s the exact kind of player a rebuilding team hopes to collect on its way back to relevance. The Giants might be irrelevant for the rest of the 2020s, but Tyler Fitzgerald is one of the reasons to tune in anyway.