Jesús Rodríguez made his debut for the SF Giants in 2026. He hit well in his brief audition while covering a few different positions, but what is his role next season?
That is tough to say. Last week, we looked at whether any of the utility bats earned a role for next season. Rodríguez was not factored into that conversation because utility players need to play adequately on defense, but it is hard to make that case for him.
When the Giants acquired Rodríguez from the New York Yankees in 2025, they had hoped that he could be a multi-positional catcher. Former Los Angeles Dodgers backstop Austin Barnes is a good template for a player who could cover a few different positions, including catcher.
That type of versatility gives a manager added flexibility. To some degree, Rodríguez fits that profile. He has experience at a few different positions, but is not particularly strong at any one position.
The SF Giants like Jesús Rodríguez’s bat, but there are not many openings on defense
When the Giants called up the 24-year-old infielder in May, they thrust him into several starts behind the plate, even though it was clear that he was not ready. At that point, the Giants likely decided internally that they were going to move on from Patrick Bailey, so they wanted to evaluate their options.
Rodríguez graded out as a below-average defender behind the plate. He tallied -3 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and -2 Fielding Run Value (FRV) while not throwing out a base runner in 10 attempts. While defensive metrics can be misleading in small samples, they matched the eye test in this regard.
Rodríguez is not necessarily new to the position. He has over 1,500 innings at catcher in the minors, so inexperience is not much of a factor at this point. Ideally, the Giants would want him to capably fill that position at this point.
The Giants tried Rodríguez out in the outfield as well, but he looked like a work in progress. His best positions are first base and third base, but there is very little playing time available at those spots. Rafael Devers and Bryce Eldridge have first base covered, whereas Matt Chapman and Casey Schmitt are entrenched as the top third basemen on the depth chart.
Rodríguez needs to capably fill positions where they have at-bats available. As of right now, that is likely catcher, second base, and the outfield corners. Plus, they need to figure that out soon, as he has already burned two minor league option years.
The Giants like Rodríguez’s bat. He has above-average contact skills with a good opposite-field approach. He will put a lot of balls in play, even if that will likely not lead to a lot of walks or extra-base hits. The right-handed bat put up a respectable .728 OPS with two home runs and eight RBI in 58 plate appearances.
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