With the possibility of October baseball now beyond their reach, the Giants find themselves limping to the finish line. It hasn’t been a particularly memorable year for San Francisco; 2024 will go down in the history books as an underwhelming campaign.
Fans are already looking toward 2025 and how the roster might take shape. The club have recently taken positive steps to secure a competitive future, with Matt Chapman signed to a long-term extension (just like I asked for).
With 2025 on my mind, I’ve listed some players I want the Giants to keep around, guys who deserve their opportunity on next year’s team. I’ve also thought about some players who might benefit from moving on, a fresh start in a new city.
As Kenny Rogers famously said, you gotta know when to hold ‘em, and know when to fold ‘em:
Hold ‘Em
Tyler Fitzgerald – Shortstop – 27-years-old
Fitzgerald has been nothing short of a revelation this year. He began the season as a utility outfielder fixed to the bench, a pinch-runner best known for his blazing speed. Fitzgerald’s versatility was always what kept him in contention on the 40-man roster; he had a decent glove in the middle infield as well, it turns out.
In July he began to feature regularly at shortstop and suddenly a monster was born. Bob Melvin gave him the keys to the position after the All-Star break and by the end of the month Fitzgerald had moved in, paid the mortgage, and wasn’t leaving any time soon. The 27-year-old tapped into a power streak unlike anything we’ve seen since Barry Bonds used to call Oracle Park home.
Fitzgerald was the first Giants player with more than 10 home runs in a 16-game span since Bonds was destroying baseballs back in 2003. Any time your stats are in Bonds territory, you’re doing something right. This year Fitzgerald has slashed .290/.343/.516 (BA/OBP/SLG) for a terrific .859 OPS, with 14 home runs and 17 stolen bases.
His lack of experience at this level has shown itself on occasion, and he strikes out more than you’d like, but the Giants’ most unlikely hero in 2024 has definitely done enough to be considered a starter in 2025. It might not necessarily be at shortstop (where some intriguing free-agents can be found this winter) but thanks to his versatility, Fitzgerald will find a home somewhere.
Fitzgerald’s toughest task ahead will be how he responds to the league’s adjustments; pitchers have a decent book on him now, they’ll know his weaknesses. Fitzgerald must prove he can adapt.
Heliot Ramos – Outfielder – 25-years-old
Ramos began the year buried on the Giants’ outfield depth chart and his future in San Francisco looked uncertain. Very few of us could have predicted the Puerto Rican slugger to break into the lineup, let alone emerge into a genuine All-Star.
That’s exactly what Ramos did, becoming the Giants’ first homegrown outfielder to play in the Midsummer Classic in almost 40 years. Despite having already lost his rookie status, 2024 is very much his first experience at being a fulltime, everyday player in the show. Ramos has passed with flying colours.
In 112 games Ramos has shown leadership beyond his years, a middle-of-the-order masher that opposition pitchers have quickly learnt to respect (and even fear). Ramos is currently hitting .266/.319/.466 with 21 home runs and 69 RBI.
His most recent blast put Ramos firmly into Giants history; before 15 September 2024, no right-handed hitting Giant had ever sent a home run over the wall directly into McCovey Cove. Not even in batting practice. Buster Posey came closest in 2021 but was cruelly denied when the ball crashed off one of the water towers.
On a gorgeous Sunday afternoon at home against the Padres, in the bottom of the ninth inning with the Giants needing just a run to tie the game, Ramos put an end to a 24-year wait with one mighty swing of his bat. His opposite-field shot sailed towards the fans atop the right field wall but soon the crowd could sense it was clear above their heads, and watched the ball splash into the bay. Ramos is the only right-handed Giant to ever accomplish this feat in the ballpark’s lifetime.
Even without making history, I’d say he’s done more than enough to warrant his spot in the outfield in 2025.
Fold ‘Em
Camilo Doval – Relief pitcher – 27-years-old
Oh Camilo, how did we end up here? His rise to stardom was meteoric, quickly taking over the closer role in that magical 2021 season, shortly after debuting with the Giants. Doval’s untouchable fastball seemed to set him up for years of success; no one could catch up to that heat.
The next two years saw his stock continue to climb, with a deserved All-Star selection coming his way in 2023. Doval recorded a National League-leading 39 saves, becoming a reliable anchor in a developing bullpen. His future looked bright.
It’s been an entirely different story in 2024. Doval never had an ERA north of 3.00 in his career but this season it skyrocketed to an unsightly 5.17 ERA. The 27-year-old has really struggled with his command, seeing his walk rate almost double, currently sitting at an unsustainable 6.0 BB/9.
Doval’s problems on the mound earned him a mid-August demotion to Triple-A Sacramento, in the hope that time away from the spotlight would allow him to reconfigure himself. Recalled two weeks later, there has been little evidence that his time away from the team did him any favours; Doval’s struggles continue.
The right-handed flamethrower won’t be a free-agent until 2028 but is set to enter his first year of arbitration this winter. As hard as it is to say, perhaps the Giants begin to consider a new home for Doval? It would be unwise to give up on a pitcher of Doval’s talent within a year of his making the All-Star team, but he must start showing signs of improvement sooner rather than later.
If he’s damaged goods, the Giants can’t afford to wait for Doval to figure things out. They will move on from him.
Marco Luciano – Shortstop – 23-years-old
Luciano, long considered among the Giants’ most exciting and eagerly-awaited prospects, has suffered a fall from grace that nobody in San Francisco could have foreseen.
Let’s get one thing clear: Luciano is just 23-years-old. In MLB terms, he’s practically a baby. There is still a long way to go before we write off a guy who hasn’t even played 50 games.
And yet…
Something about Luciano doesn’t sit right with me. Something feels off. Staying positive for a moment, we know there’s a lengthy history of players who struggled in the show before emerging into generational talents. Posey is a good example, and was slow out of the gate during his cup of coffee in 2009. Even Aaron Judge and Mike Trout got off to slow starts as they adjusted to major-league pitching. Maybe Luciano just needs more time; can the Giants be patient with him?
In the brief period we’ve gotten to watch Luciano, the right-handed hitting infielder has failed to impress. Known for his power-hitting prowess in the minors, recording double-digit home runs each year, Luciano is still desperately searching for his first major-league homer. He has just six extra-base hits this year, which is concerning for a player projected to spray balls into gaps and pull them over fences.
Grant Brisbee recently wrote an excellent piece on Luciano’s homerless streak and listed some of the famous players who also experienced a barren run to start their careers. There are Hall of Famers there for goodness sake, including Kirby Puckett and Rickey Henderson. It turns out that Luciano’s setback might not be the outlier it initially appeared to be.
While his power slump is concerning, his general approach at the plate could be the bigger issue: According to Fangraphs, Luciano is striking out in a third of his at-bats (33.3% K%) and only drawing a walk 6.4% of the time. It’s important to stress that this is a very small sample in a young player’s early career on the biggest stage he’s ever experienced. We probably shouldn’t be panicking quite this much. Nevertheless, it doesn’t make for great reading.
Even if Luciano finds some success with the bat, there’s no avoiding the giant red flag waving above his glove. Luciano’s tenure at the shortstop position in May came to a swift and sudden end after committing five errors in just nine games; he hasn’t featured there ever since. Scouts had questioned his major-league future at shortstop for years and it looks unlikely he’ll be given a second chance any time soon. The Giants have tried him at second base instead, which could be a better landing spot for him.
This all begs the question – could a better landing spot actually be a new team? The Giants might want to explore the idea of cashing in on his noteworthy history as a top prospect and float his name in trade discussions over the offseason. If the club targets an established shortstop in free-agency, moving Fitzgerald to second base, then Luciano quickly becomes the odd man out.
A change of scenery might be the best move for both Luciano and the Giants, as sad as that is to admit.
Ash Day is the San Francisco Giants writer for Bat Flips and Nerds. Follow him on X (Twitter) @AshDay29
Photo credit for featured image by Andy Lyons/Getty Images.
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