San Francisco Giants Rising Star Has Bold Message About What His Ceiling Can Be

Entering the upcoming season, not many people are expecting the San Francisco Giants to compete for a division title.

It's easy to see why.

The Los Angeles Dodgers just won the World Series and spent like they missed the playoffs, adding even more star players to their already loaded roster. The San Diego Padres have had a quiet winter and seem to be wanting to reduce payroll, but they still have a top-heavy team in place. And after shocking the baseball world with the signing of Corbin Burnes, the Arizona Diamondbacks could be poised to take the next step many expected to come last year.

Meanwhile, the Giants are coming off an 80-82 campaign and lost one of the best pitchers in the league to their NL West rival.

Things are going to be challenging for San Francisco this season, to say the least.

However, there's some quiet confidence in the clubhouse that they'll have a better performance in 2025 than what took place last year.

Not only did they add Willy Adames to boost their lineup and Justin Verlander to help their rotation, but it's the second campaign under manager Bob Melvin, Matt Chapman lived up to his contract to secure himself an extension and there were some young players who had breakout performances like Heliot Ramos and Tyler Fitzgerald.

Both Ramos and Fitzgerald are expected to play major roles for this team in the present and future.

Following the signing of Adames to take over the shortstop position for the next seven years, that pushed Fitzgerald into his more natural position of second base, something he thinks will play dividends for his career outlook.

"I'm very, very excited. That was my first reaction when I heard about it — I think I'm going to be a little bit better there, to be honest with you. I think it's going to be better for the team, better for me," he said per Susan Slasser of The San Francisco Chronicle. "I know I can play shortstop, but I have a better chance to win a Gold Glove at second. I'm not saying that's what I'm shooting for this year, but for the type of player I am, second base is going to be great."

That's exciting to think about.

Fitzgerald really burst onto the scene with his bat, blasting homer after homer that rivaled a streak that Barry Bonds produced during his fabled Giants career.

San Francisco moved him all over the field defensively, mainly to fill positions of need, but also seeing where he might actually stick at the Major League level.

Second base proved to be the best spot for him, finishing the 2024 campaign worth one Out Above Average compared to minus-four at shortstop. While he was also a good defender in the outfield, that group is crowded and his defense is better used elsewhere.

Providing Gold Glove defense while producing the 136 OPS+ figure he did across his 96 games this past season would be massive for the Giants.

If Fitzgerald reaches that type of ceiling, San Francisco will have one of the best middle infield tandems in all of Major League Baseball for the foreseeable future.

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