{"id":611803,"date":"2026-03-07T15:07:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T15:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/611803\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T15:07:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T15:07:48","slug":"here-are-the-lineups-giants-manager-tony-vitello-should-use-this-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/611803\/","title":{"rendered":"Here are the lineups Giants manager Tony Vitello should use this season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section 415 email newsletter here<\/a> and subscribe to the \u201cSection 415″ podcast <\/a>wherever you listen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. \u2013 Before Tony Vitello and Co. settle on a primary lineup, they\u2019ll have to settle on whether Luis Arr\u00e1ez is the leadoff hitter.<\/p>\n

The Giants could either utilize Arr\u00e1ez\u2019s elite contact skills and hit him first or take advantage of his high batting average with runners in scoring position and bat him in the middle of the order.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the single biggest talking point when it comes to the Giants\u2019 lineup. Once Arr\u00e1ez is slotted into a spot, it\u2019ll be easier to determine the rest of the names.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it could be anywhere in the lineup,\u201d Vitello said. \u201cAs soon as he signed, everybody in the building had a theory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vitello might be OK with Arr\u00e1ez leading off. It\u2019s where he batted him three times in four games before the second baseman left camp to play in the World Baseball Classic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of easy to say he\u2019s got some of that profile to him,\u201d Vitello said. \u201cHe\u2019s an annoying hitter to pitch to. So to start a game like that is something that has appeal.\u201d<\/p>\n

New hitting coach Hunter Mense, while noting it\u2019s not his job to make the lineup, sees Arr\u00e1ez\u2019s value as a run producer, which would suggest he could be better served in the middle of the lineup. Indeed, Arr\u00e1ez\u2019s career average with runners in scoring position is a whopping .349 (.837 OPS), even better than his overall average of .317 (.777 OPS).<\/p>\n

\u201cI would put him in a spot where he\u2019s going to have a ton of opportunities,\u201d Mense said. \u201cI believe that his best attribute is being able to drive in runs. He gets a lot of hits, and being able to score guys from third base or second base with two outs oftentimes requires a hit. I just want him in those situations. I don\u2019t know what the rest of the lineup around him looks like, but I want him in those spots as many times as we can get him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus the dilemma.<\/p>\n

Arr\u00e1ez said he\u2019ll hit wherever, \u201cbut I like [being the] leadoff hitter.\u201d It\u2019s where he has batted for most of his career (417 starts \u2014 second most is the No. 2 slot, 171 starts). \u201cI just need to get on base for those guys,\u201d he said, \u201ctry to make the job easier for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

From this corner, we prefer Arr\u00e1ez opening the season as the leadoff hitter. Now the trick is figuring out what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n

In the olden days, a team\u2019s premier hitter batted third \u2014 from Babe Ruth and Ted Williams to Willie Mays and Hank Aaron to Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Bonds. No longer. In the analytics age, the best hitter bats second, regarded as the optimal spot in the lineup to generate runs. Unless you\u2019re the Dodgers and bat Shohei Ohtani leadoff just to get him to the plate ASAP.<\/p>\n

The Giants\u2019 best hitter is Rafael Devers, who\u2019s currently nursing a bum hamstring, and the No. 2 spot is perfect for him. It\u2019s where he spent most of last season, and, as Vitello said, \u201cThe guy\u2019s kind of willing to do whatever. The willingness factor is pretty high there. So in my conversations with him, he\u2019s kind of deferred to the coaching staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Willy Adames, who last year became the first Giant since Bonds to hit 30 homers, is the No. 3 man. He\u2019s showing a different approach at the plate with fewer moving parts \u2014 more upright in the box, slightly more open stance, reduced leg kick \u2014 in a bid to catch up to pitchers\u2019 high velocities and avoid the rotten start he endured in 2025.<\/p>\n

Both Devers and Adames set career highs in strikeouts last season, 192 and 179, respectively, but while Buster Posey is trying to emphasize more contact in the lineup, he\u2019s not about to tinker with his two best sluggers.<\/p>\n

Same with the hitting coach, who was hired from Toronto, where his contact-happy lineup made it all the way to Game 7 of the World Series.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we score a ton of runs and they still strike out a bunch, but have career years, you\u2019re still sitting here probably at the end of the year having a pretty good conversation about what we did offensively, right?\u201d Mense said.<\/p>\n

Cleanup hitter? This one\u2019s tricky. Matt Chapman is an option as the next best power guy, but he batted only .192 with runners in scoring position with 43 strikeouts in 120 at-bats in 2025.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s go with Heliot Ramos instead, the only right-handed hitter in Oracle Park\u2019s 26-year history to homer into McCovey Cove on a fly. He was 7-for-11 with four extra-base hits before heading to the WBC and vows to be the first player since Bonds to start in left field in consecutive season openers, breaking the 18-year drought.<\/p>\n

More than that, he hit better with runners in scoring position than Chapman with a lower strikeout rate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mense said Ramos\u2019 supreme bat speed should allow him to \u201cuse the whole yard to go out at any point. For him, it\u2019s helping him understand and unlock that superpower.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s No. 5? Are you sitting down? It\u2019s Mr. Bryce Eldridge. The 21-year-old with the long frame and lethal swing. Posey takes chances. He signed Adames for $182 million. He took on $250 million of Devers\u2019 contract. He hired Vitello. If it\u2019s about stacking the lineup with as many dangerous hitters as possible to give the Giants the best chance for a quick start, Eldridge is in the Opening Day lineup.<\/p>\n

\"ABryce Eldridge made his MLB debut in September. | Source: Courtesy of San Francisco Giants<\/p>\n

In the Team USA exhibition, he crushed a 112-mph drive to deep center off Paul Skenes, and the next day he scorched a 113-mph liner over shortstop that got to the outfield wall in a hurry, an opposite-field double off a lefty. On Friday, Eldridge hit a 109-mph triple off a lefty and improved his OPS to 1.021 in Cactus League play. His defense is far better (take a bow, Ron Washington<\/a>), and by sticking in the big leagues, he\u2019d continue to receive everyday tutoring from the dynamic infield coach.<\/p>\n

Let the kid open as the designated hitter and play first base once or twice a week to give Devers some time at DH.<\/p>\n

Today<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

3 days ago<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Friday, Feb. 27<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe ceiling is about as high as anybody in the big leagues,\u201d Mense said.<\/p>\n

Next is Chapman, a power bat at No. 6. Then Jung Hoo Lee, whose aim is to transform his elite bat-to-ball skills into better overall numbers \u2014 he\u2019d be wise to embrace every nuance about hitting from Arr\u00e1ez. Then newcomer Harrison Bader, who\u2019s coming off a career year. Finally, Patrick Bailey, who\u2019s hoping to carry over his impressive September.<\/p>\n

The primary lineup<\/p>\n

1. Arr\u00e1ez\u00a0<\/p>\n

2. Devers<\/p>\n

3. Adames<\/p>\n

4. Ramos<\/p>\n

5. Eldridge<\/p>\n

6. Chapman<\/p>\n

7. Lee<\/p>\n

8. Bader<\/p>\n

9. Bailey<\/p>\n

Left, left, right, right, left, right, left, right, switch. Not a bad alignment against right-handed starters.<\/p>\n

Against lefties<\/p>\n

Of course, the Yankees are expected to start a lefty (Max Fried) in the March 25 opener at Oracle Park. Arr\u00e1ez doesn\u2019t hit lefties nearly as well as righties, so some tweaks are in order:<\/p>\n

1. Ramos<\/p>\n

2. Devers<\/p>\n

3. Adames<\/p>\n

4. Chapman<\/p>\n

5. Arr\u00e1ez<\/p>\n

6. Jerar Encarnaci\u00f3n or Casey Schmitt at DH until Eldridge shows he can beat up on lefties<\/p>\n

7. Lee<\/p>\n

8. Bader<\/p>\n

9. Bailey<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for Vitello, he\u2019s unable to see all his everyday guys because half of them are in the WBC: Arr\u00e1ez, Ramos, Lee, and Bader. Once everyone is back and Devers is healthy, the rookie manager no doubt will collaborate with the front office and analytics department to hash out a lineup.<\/p>\n

Until further notice, it all starts with Arr\u00e1ez.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat his best spot is, hopefully we know within the first portion of the season,\u201d Vitello said, \u201cbut it might turn into something different as the season goes on.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2408],"tags":[5,6595,162,4,378,66,4343,4340,4344,4341,4342,185,1870],"class_list":{"0":"post-611803","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-buster-posey","10":"tag-giants","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-san-francisco","13":"tag-san-francisco-giants","14":"tag-sanfrancisco","15":"tag-sanfranciscogiants","16":"tag-sf","17":"tag-sf-giants","18":"tag-sfgiants","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-tony-vitello"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116188526673686490","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611803","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=611803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}