{"id":568922,"date":"2026-02-12T22:16:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T22:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/568922\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T22:16:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T22:16:28","slug":"how-sf-giants-additon-of-luis-arraez-affects-other-infielders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/568922\/","title":{"rendered":"How SF Giants’ additon of Luis Arr\u00e1ez affects other infielders"},"content":{"rendered":"

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. \u2014 The Giants were intent on adding a second baseman this winter. They couldn\u2019t land Brendan Donovan. Or Nico Hoerner. Or CJ Abrams. Then, a week-and-a-half before spring training, they landed Luis Arr\u00e1ez<\/a>, a three-time batting champion with a divisive skillset<\/a>, on a one-year deal.<\/p>\n

For Casey Schmitt, the ripple effect was obvious. Despite an encouraging season, one where he grinded through multiple brutal injuries, Schmitt will transition from starting second baseman to San Francisco\u2019s utility man.<\/p>\n

\u201cCasey did make some big strides last year,\u201d said president of baseball operations Buster Posey on Tuesday. \u201c(Christian) Koss, same thing. Adding a guy like Arr\u00e1ez, I think, is an opportunity for a guy like Casey and a guy like Koss to learn from, as well as they continue their development. And then it just gives us another layer of depth in our infield to have Arr\u00e1ez.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having played all four infield positions, Schmitt is plenty qualified for the role. Still, there\u2019s an argument that Schmitt, who turns 27 in March, deserved a chance to start at second base \u2014 and that the Giants should\u2019ve dedicated the $12 million they spent on Arr\u00e1ez to its pitching staff.<\/p>\n

Schmitt\u2019s third season in the majors was his best to date, one that ended with him seizing the starting second baseman job. His numbers don\u2019t leap off the page but he totaled career-highs in homers (12), RBIs (40) and games (95) while posting a .706 OPS (101 OPS+).<\/p>\n

The former second-round pick struggled for the first two months, missing time due to a left oblique strain. When Matt Chapman hit the injured list, Schmitt took off as Chapman\u2019s temporary replacement. Before Chapman\u2019s injury, Schmitt had a .521 OPS over 58 plate appearances. From June 10 onward, Schmitt posted a .742 OPS over 290 plate appearances.<\/p>\n

That performance is especially impressive considering his body was a magnet for baseballs.<\/p>\n

On June 15, the day the Giants traded for Rafael Devers, Schmitt fouled a pitch off his left foot and left the game.<\/p>\n

On June 25, Schmitt got nailed in the left wrist by a 95.2 mph sinker from the Miami Marlins\u2019 Calvin Faucher.<\/p>\n

On August 15, the Tampa Bay Rays\u2019 Edwin Uceta nailed Schmitt on the right elbow with a 93.3 mph fastball, forcing Schmitt to leave the game.<\/p>\n

On September 1, Chase Dollander, who played for new manager Tony Vitello<\/a> at Tennessee, hit that same right elbow with a 95.7 mph sinker.<\/p>\n

Schmitt described the season as \u201ca little bit of a grind physically and mentally,\u201d but thought the season went well overall. He conceded that the left wrist ailment affected his swing, particularly his ability to hit the inside fastball.<\/p>\n

The wrist kept barking after the season, and Schmitt underwent surgery in December<\/a>\u00a0to remove the carpal boss in his left wrist. He\u2019s a little behind schedule compared to other position players in camp, but has one more week of his hitting progression before being fully cleared for all baseball activities.<\/p>\n

Assuming health, Schmitt is the overwhelming favorite to win a spot on the bench as a utility player. Schmitt, who has dropped five to ten pounds, said he hasn\u2019t done any work in the outfield aside from shagging fly balls, and Vitello said the Giants haven\u2019t discussed getting Schmitt reps in the outfield.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just seemed to be a season of interruption for him,\u201d Vitello said. \u201cFor him to do what he did and look back on it and still gain valuable reps \u2026 he should take confidence in that he was able to accomplish things, but he also he was able to build up some experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Vitello: \u201cTo me, if he\u2019s of the right mindset and he prepares the way I think he will with Wash, he kind of becomes a weapon at third base and second base defensively.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schmitt isn\u2019t the only primary infielder affected by the team\u2019s signing of Arr\u00e1ez.<\/p>\n

For Koss and Tyler Fitzgerald, the path to an Opening Day roster spot becomes more unclear. Given the positional inflexibility of Arr\u00e1ez and Rafael Devers (and potentially Bryce Eldridge<\/a>), it\u2019s pretty much a prerequisite for Fitzgerald and Koss to play in the outfield.<\/p>\n

Fitzgerald and Koss aren\u2019t unfamiliar with grazing the grass. The former has played 61 combined games in the outfield in the majors and minors, while Koss has seen time in the outfield in both the minors and the Puerto Rican Winter League.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think grabbing reps voluntarily is important, but also it\u2019s on us, if we see a point where it\u2019s like, there could be a day in May where this guy needs to help us at this position, then we need to put him that position in spring training,\u201d Vitello said.<\/p>\n

Fitzgerald has already spent time with both the infielders and outfielders this week. On Wednesday, he took grounders at shortstop while Schmitt and Chapman fielded grounders at third. On Thursday, he worked with the outfielders, fielding fly balls in center field and right field, then took batting practice in the same group as Jung Hoo Lee and Heliot Ramos.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have heard reports that (Fitzgerald) is moving in the box well,\u201d Posey said on Tuesday. \u201cWe\u2019ll get some looks at him on the infield, potentially in the outfield as well and see if some of that versatility will add another layer of depth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fitzgerald said he spent \u201c99 percent\u201d of the offseason working as an infielder but understands the need to get more reps in the outfield. Koss has yet to report to camp, but position players do not report for a couple days.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe signed Arr\u00e1ez, so now my best chance, barring any injuries, will probably be for me to play better in the outfield and get more reps out there,\u201d Fitzgerald said. \u201cThat\u2019s something that I\u2019ve talked to the coaches about. \u2026 It\u2019s going to be a little bit of a balance and trying to find a new routine. I did some of that in the first half in \u201824 and I started to get a good routine. It\u2019s all about just communicating with the coaches and trusting that they\u2019ll put me in the best spot to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. \u2014 The Giants were intent on adding a second baseman this winter. They couldn\u2019t land Brendan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":568923,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2408],"tags":[5,5776,2178,162,5774,5775,853,4,5777,378,5778,66,4343,4340,4344,4341,4342,185],"class_list":{"0":"post-568922","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-giants","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-bay-area","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-giants","12":"tag-giants-hq","13":"tag-inside-sports","14":"tag-latest-headlines","15":"tag-mlb","16":"tag-peninsula","17":"tag-san-francisco","18":"tag-san-francisco-county","19":"tag-san-francisco-giants","20":"tag-sanfrancisco","21":"tag-sanfranciscogiants","22":"tag-sf","23":"tag-sf-giants","24":"tag-sfgiants","25":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116059976252661699","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=568922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568922\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/568923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}