2026 stats: 46 G — .202/ .268/ .341, 5 HR, 13 RBI, 71 wRC+, -5 FRV, -0.5 fWAR
Boy, there was a moment when fans really felt like Osleivis Basabe was going to be a real spark. He was 8-for-24 with 3 homers and 8 RBI in his first 8 games. But then he went 18-for-105 over the rest of the season and in due time we were all reminded of why he’s been a fringe roster candidate since the Giants picked him up last season.
To dig a little deeper into the numbers — just for fun — let’s look at his Win Probability
Added. Through those first 8 games it was +0.637. And those three home runs were significant.
The first tied a game:
And in the same game, he smacked a double off Mason Miller with the hardest contact a Giant had registered on a hit in the Statcast era:
His second home run cut another deficit:
And the third tied a game late and breaking up a shutout in the 7th inning:
Those final 105 at bats and 38 games, though? A -1.057 Win Probability Added. Statistically, he cost the Giants a full in the majority of his time. Confusingly, he had reverse platoon splits (.747 OPS vs. RHP, .406 vs. LHP) and more productive on the road (.712 OPS road, .489 OPS home). He thrived when the stakes were low. None of those three home runs came in Giants wins. And utility as a fielder was seriously lacking. After that initial barrage of offense, among the silent hitting spell, he had key errors.
But Basabe was one of those players who got some love as gratitude for giving fans a little bit of hope in a bad season. I think Giants fans are always hoping the next Gregor Blanco is around the corner. A Juan Uribe in waiting. He has yet to translate that MiLB career batting average of .288 into MLB success (.208 in 216 AB), though, which means at the end of the day he was a warm body the Giants turned to once Casey Schmitt was lost for the season. Because of Schmitt’s absence and the Luis Arraez trade, he was definitely called upon to play more often than he should have been, to the extent that at some point it could be argued that it’s hard to imagine what the team might’ve seen in him. Did they see another Donovan Solano? An Otto Lopez type?
Does he have the skills to be an MLB backup? Possibly. The pedigree is certainly there. At one point, he was a top 30 prospect in both the Rangers and Rays systems. He’s still just 26 years old so there’s always a chance he could catch on with another organization, but some aspect of his game needs to improve against world-best competition. A middle infielder who can’t hit or field against big league competition doesn’t really warrant a roster spot, and the Giants were in a position where they needed to see if any of his Triple-A work (.268/.344/.388) could translate.
It did not.
With Schmitt, Marcelo Mayer, Jonah Cox, Christian Koss, Maui Ahuna, Diego Velasquez, Gavin Kilen, Jhonny level, Josuar, Luis, and Joniel all in the mix, it was a runway to show off his utility and it just didn’t happen, so the Giants released outrighted him and he declared himself a free agent.
Will he be remembered in a couple of years as one of these bridge players between eras?
