Can Fitz fill a Taylor size role for San Francisco?
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Welcome back to another episode today’s episode what we’re going to talk about is Tyler Fitzgerald and whether or not he can end up making the roster on that last roster spot uh that appears to be kind of up for grabs at the moment and also kind of
His comparison um and why he might be able to be kind of the Giants version of Chris Taylor who’s been you know the longtime Dodgers utility player for I believe about the last six years years he’s been in La so starting off a little bit with Tyler Fitzgerald um as I
Mentioned it appears that there’s about one roster spot that’s kind of up for grabs um as we all know there’s a 26-man active roster 13 players uh or 13 position players on that usually 13 pitchers um of the Giants um roster Outlook at the moment it appears that
About 12 spots are pretty secure at the moment obviously things can change but as of right now uh it appears that you’re going to have Patrick Bailey and Tom Murphy as your catchers um the infield has is likely going to have JD Davis Marco Luciano Tyro Estrada um Wilmer Flores and LaMont Wade
Jr and in the Outfield we you know we’ll put Solair in the Outfield though he’s more of a DH and then canoro Jung Huli Mikey stry and Austin Slater so that’s 12 players right there that appear to be pretty set um with the big hole at the moment the the big
Obvious hole being uh a utility guy that can back up shortstop second base Third Base although Third Base theoretically like Wilmer Flores could go play over there for a game if needed but really a backup middle infielder is kind of the glaring hole right now as I said some
Changes could happen you know they could sign Matt Chapman that would mean JD Davis probably gets traded off somewhere Luis Matos maybe makes Austin Slater Expendable if Matos continues to have a really big spring and shows the needed strength Giants might have to make a tough decision there and package an
Outfielder elsewhere to create everyday playing time for him it’s kind of what I’m hoping for but it’s not what this episode’s about um so on this one it it appears there’s a there’s a utility spot up for grabs and the Giants have kind of thrown a large quantity of
Players there they just signed Nick Ahmed um as kind of a veteran backup Short Stop they had they made the trade for Otto Lopez um Casey Schmidt’s gonna certainly be in the mix uh and then Tyler Fitzgerald is that last guy um now where Tyler Fitzgerald has an advantage
Over all the other guys is he also can play the he plays center field but he also can probably I I’m assuming if you can play center field you can play left or right field pretty easily you can learn those positions so he’s a natural short stop but he can
Play short second third and the Outfield so he would bring you know a lot of Versatility especially for later innings in for the Giants if if they want to use him as a pinch Runner where he has a lot of speed keep in mind he had the sixth
Fastest uh Sprint speed home to first last season um so he’s got very good speed um they could use him as a late inning pinch hitter he’s got some nice pop we saw him hit two home runs last season including one off of Clayton Kershaw in San
Francisco um he’s hit over 20 home runs in each of the last two seasons in the minor leagues uh so you know he does have some nice pop there as well and you know the biggest weakness in his game has been the swing and Miss but this is
Where the Chris Taylor you know comparison really comes in um I was overlooking Chris Taylor’s career numbers and Chris Taylor has a career 29% strikeout percentage you know this is not a guy that you know makes a ton of contact all the time he does have pop Chris Taylor has averaged between you
Know 10 and his career high as 21 home runs but between 10 to you know 21 home runs every year since 2017 with the exception being the uh covid shorten 2020 season in which he still hit eight home runs um this is a guy that pretty consistently plays you know between
Appears about 117 to 140 games he had one outlier season in 2018 where he played 155 games so you know kind of we’re kind of looking at the uh you know Ben zis type where he’s going to start a lot of games all over the diamond or get
In a lot of games whether it’s late Innings or whatever um but he’s not an everyday player at one position and you know the Giants need a guy that’s going to be able to play all over and really this is a team severely lacking in things like speed where he can help
Impact games in ways that there’s just not a lot of guys on their 40 man roster that can um this is a guy that stole 20 bags in 20 22 had a 2020 season there and then had a 2020 season actually 2030 season last season where between double
A triaa and the major leagues he stole 32 bags so this is a guy that would be able to bring an added element to this roster that they really need I mean as we’ve kind of beaten to the ground recently this team was dead last in
Stolen bases last season this is the you know it’s 2024 the rules favor stealing bags and being more aggressive on the base paths it’s time for the Giants to join the modern game and at least get some respectable speed up and down the roster so you know it’s a very
Interesting comparison uh I kind of wonder if he can be their version going forward he’s only 26 years old um I know they’ve had their questions on with him you know he kind of got stuck down in Triple A for much of last season whenever you know a lot of other players
That had been in similar positions were getting their opportunities and it’s not like the Giants had the answer at shortstop Casey Schmidt was struggling mightily Brandon Crawford was struggling and hurt um you know they were bringing up guys like Johan kamaro and you know isan Diaz you know they were bypassing
Fitzgerald for a lot of very questionable players so I’m not sure how high farh Han Z and them view him but I think he would be a very you know solid fit for what this roster currently needs um as as far as areas it lacks um so those
Are my thoughts want to hear what everybody else has to say uh as always like subscribe to the channel we’re going to keep going through um kind of different ideas and different players that you know what they’re doing in spring training keep an eye on it for
What it’s worth Fitzgerald as of right now has had 11 played appearances he’s two for nine a he actually had a grand slam a few days ago a couple walks but you know a as it’s been his history he’s got some swing and miss and he has four
Um strikeouts and 11 play appearances but very small sample size I’m not one to overreact to that um but we’re going to just keep an eye on um spring training see what keeps H you know see what’s happening see the developments uh Bob Melvin made some
Comments the other day uh I think it was yesterday or this morning um about there’s still some pitchers out there because they just found an aneurysm and Tristan Beck’s arm he is likely going to miss a lot of time so as our video alluded to yesterday with Blake Snell um
That might be something where they really need to look long and hard at trying to bring him in on a short-term deal of some sort or possibly Jordan Montgomery and giving these guys kind of the Carlos rodon deal or similar to what Cody Binger signed as we brought up
Yesterday so otherwise you know we’re looking at probably Mason black or you know maybe Carson wizen hunt there’s a few other guys Sean Jelly’s been BR brought up I I don’t know how anyone can watch I sent this tweet out a little bit ago I don’t know how anybody can watch
Sea jelly pitch the last couple years and think he belongs anywhere near Major League Mound but then again he’s never given up a run against the Bob Melvin Padres so maybe Bob Melvin just hasn’t seen the rest of it uh who knows but otherwise uh we’re gonna have another
Video coming out tomorrow I’m sure uh we’re gonna go catch the game today against Arizona Marco Luciano’s making his Cactus League debut today uh Jung Huli is in the lineup OT Ramos is in the lineup Logan Webb is pitching uh so you know got some exciting players
That we can keep an eye on for today but other than that until next time bye
7 Comments
Love this guy, he literally is quoted saying he be happy to be the utility guy. He also wants to steal lots of bags. I bet he can win a gold glove as a utility player too, he’s very athletic. Trade Yaz, Conforto, and Slater, just get them out.
This is great — this baseball talk is exactly what we need when it comes to Giants players on the roster and off, as our team is changing so much. Very good, Sir! I'm a new subscriber 🙂
Love his speed giants could use some of that
I really like Fitzgerald which means he'll end up back in Sac. He covers several areas of need for us and could provide some extra pop. I'm pretty high on Mason Black as well but he probably needs a few more reps in Sac before we throw him into the rotation disaster! Go Giants 👊⚾
Might have higher potential than Chris Taylor. He's an underrated prospect. 6'3 205 prototype baseball frame, plus speed (32/35 stolen bases in the minors last season), beautiful swing, good power, still getting stronger. He has star potential if he can learn the game within the game and put it all together. Hope he plays well and makes opening day roster. Guys like David Villar, Brett Wisely, and Austin Slater are much more expendable
He should be the starting SS
Why in the F isn't Ha Seong Kim on the Giants roster? OMG, 17 HRs, 38 SBs, and a finalist for a gold glove. Perfect spot player in case the SS position struggles. SPEED, SPEED, SPEED!!! Do you think he checks a couple of boxes😀 TRADE FOR HIM!!!!