Surprising San Francisco Giants Outfielder Named Top Breakout Candidate

The San Francisco Giants could see a breakout performance from a top outfield prospect this season.

Aug 31, 2023; San Diego, California, USA; San Francisco Giants center fielder Wade Meckler (53) runs to first base for an RBI single against the San Diego Padres during the third inning at Petco Park. | Ray Acevedo-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants seem to be in a "win-now" mindset, but that doesn't mean there isn't room for a young player to break out.

R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports recently went through each MLB team's roster to search for a player that could break out this season. For the Giants, it was surprisingly outfield prospect Wade Meckler.

Meckler is someone who made his debut in the Majors back in 2023, but spent all of last season in the minor leagues and dealing with the a wrist injury.

It didn't help that his 20-game debut didn't go very well.

He posted a .232/.328/.250 slash line with four RBI and just one extra-base hit (a double). It is fine to have a mediocre start to a career, but it certainly hurt to not have a chance to build upon that last year.

When he finally got back up to speed after his wrist injury, though, he started to look closer to the player San Francisco hopes he can become.

Over 87 games, he posted a .280/.366/.423 slash line with nine home runs and nine stolen bases. The potential to grow into a 20/20 player as a bottom-of-the-lineup outfielder is enticing.

Anderson mentioned that one of the top paths to playing time for Meckler would be the Giants opting to trade away Mike Yastrzemski at some point this season.

It might be an odd choice to ship off a solid bat while they are trying to make a playoff push, but giving a young player a chance could also make sense.

Yastrzemski has not been an irreplaceable offensive presence, rather just a consistently well-rounded one.

He has finished between 2.0 and 2.7 WAR in every season of his career and can be counted on for about 15 home runs per year.

With his team control coming to an end after 2025 and a contract extension unlikely, it could be a good move to trade him at the deadline and let someone like Meckler take over.

Even if Meckler doesn't grow into an All-Star, it looks as though the near 25-year-old could at least be a replacement as a solid contributor like Yastrzemski has been for so long.

Meckler's start to spring training has been slow.

Through six games and nine plate appearances, he has a .222/.364/.222 slash line.

He is solid at drawing walks and that has remained with two drawn so far, but he'll need to show more to get back into roster consideration at some point this season.