These Giants Lineup Adjustments Tell a Subtle Story About Future

The San Francisco Giants were content to use what they considered to be their best lineup in their first two games against the New York Yankees.

That “best lineup” had the worst start in Major League history.

So, on Saturday, the Giants made some lineup adjustments for the first time. One of those adjustments had been hinted at during spring training. It didn’t exactly pay off the way San Francisco wanted, but other moves did, as in they led to finally scoring a run.

This signaled that San Francisco is willing to make some early moves in the lineup to create more baserunners and put players in spots in the lineup where their skill set gives the Giants flexibility.

It’s small comfort after being outscored 13-1 in their first series of the season.

“Today [Saturday}was better, you know,” Adames said to media after the game in comments captured by KNBR radio. “Obviously we didn’t get the big hit again. These first three games haven’t gone the way we wanted. But that’s how baseball goes, you know? Obviously, we didn’t want to start the season like this. But now we have a new series to start fresh and start rolling.”

The Giants Lineup Tweak that Kind of Worked

San Francisco Giants infielder Matt Chapman holds onto his bat. — San Francisco Giants infielder Matt Chapman. | Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

For the first two games of the series the Giants used the same batting order against the Yankees. It wasn’t necessarily match-up driven, either. New York used left-hander Max Fried in the opener and then right-hander Cam Schlittler in the second game. That lineup included:

Luis Arraez

Matt Chapman

Rafael Devers

Willy Adames

Jung Hoo Lee

Heliot Ramos

Casey Schmitt

Patrick Bailey

Harrison Bader

That lineup, in that order, produced no runs and five hits. It made the Giants the first team in Major League history to start a season no runs and five or fewer hits in their first two games.

So, in the finale, the Giants went with some tweaks:

Jung Hoo Lee

Matt Chapman

Luis Arraez

Rafael Devers

Heliot Ramos

Willy Adames

Harrison Bader

Patrick Bailey

Casey Schmitt

San Francisco moved Lee to the leadoff spot, a place he occupied last year. That slid Arraez down to the third spot. The belief this offseason was that the Giants signed him to be their leadoff hitter, given that he's a contact monster and has won three National League batting titles.

But San Francisco hitting coach Hunter Mense hinted at the idea of batting Arraez lower in the order during spring training. It's for the same logic. He sees the slugger’s contact as an asset to move runners into scoring position. Arraez only reinforced that idea with his incredible performance in the World Baseball Classic.

Arraez went 2-for-4 in the game but failed to get a hit in two chances with runners on base. He wasn’t the only one that failed in that endeavor during the series, either. But it’s a hint to what the Giants are hoping for if they bat him lower in the order.

The lineup tweak paid off in the third inning of Saturday's game. Lee, batting for the second time in the game and batting first in the inning, doubled. Chapman followed that with a single that scored Lee. It turned out to be San Francisco's only run of the game, but at least it was a spark.

The new lineup had nine hits on Saturday after the lineup used in the first two games had just four hits combined. Arraez, Ramos Devers each had three hits for the series. The rest of the lineup had four hits in three games. Adames was pinch-run for in the third game, something he was asked about after the game.

“That’s not the first time that’s happened in my career,” he said. “Tony makes the decisions and he’s the manager.”

Controversial? Unlikely. The player that pinch-run for Adames, Jared Oliva, stole 14 bases in spring training. The tying run was at the plate and Vitello was seeking to put more speed on base.

That’s what Saturday represented — adjustments to try and create more basepath traffic. It worked, to an extent. Now the Giants must find a way to cash in next week against the San Diego Padres.