The San Francisco Giants played their penultimate game of the spring on Monday night, hosting Sultanes de Monterrey at Oracle Park, less than 48 hours before the start of the 2026 MLB season. You can’t draw many conclusions from such a contest, but the Giants did a lot of the things they hoped to do in a 10-2 victory. They looked mostly fresh, energetic, and focused. The biggest question mark on their roster — the bullpen — performed very well. The gameday operations appeared to go off without a hitch,
which is half of the point of these home park exhibitions.
And they even got a little bit of excitement from a critical place.
While the performance can’t teach us too much, there was a little info to be gained before the game even started. We’ve officially reached the point of the preseason where the lineup card carries meaning. There’s some stuff to decode there.
For instance: Luis Arráez hit leadoff, despite facing a left-handed pitcher. There’s been a lot of speculation as to where Arráez would hit — personally, I’d opt for fifth or sixth — and the Giants haven’t tipped their hand. This is our first real data point, and it seems safe to assume that the team’s new second baseman will hit first with some regularity. Similarly, Jung Hoo Lee batted cleanup, which might seem unconventional. But we’re seeing more and more teams use contact hitters in the heart of the lineup, as the San Diego Padres did with Arráez on multiple occasions last year. Could we see Lee — the team’s second-best contact hitter, but a player shy on power — hold down the fourth spot in the lineup from time to time? It’s looking like the answer could be “yes.”
Also of note is that Rafael Devers was the designated hitter, while Casey Schmitt played first. Devers still hasn’t played the field since returning from a mild hamstring injury, and now it wouldn’t be surprising if that carries into the season.
And speaking of players not in the field, Harrison Bader was once again absent, as he deals with a hamstring injury of his own. Missing this game certainly casts some doubt on Bader’s availability for Wednesday’s opener, and possibly even brings into play the idea of him beginning the year on the Injured List. Jared Oliva started in center field in Bader’s place, as he continues to trend towards being the 2026 winner of the annual Christian Koss award for the non-roster invitee who doesn’t have a chance to make the team, they’re just there for Minor League depth, but wow, they sure are playing well, and huh, they sure are playing a lot, and wait a minute, maybe they do have an outside chance at making the roster even though that would be crazy oh, hey, yep, they made the opening day roster award. Working title. Let me know if you have any feedback. If Bader isn’t healthy by Wednesday, it would feel like Oliva’s spot on the roster is essentially a lock.
Those lineup card observations are more than we learned during the actual game, but there were some takeaways from the action, as well. Tony Vitello opted for a bullpen game rather than getting a final start for Adrian Houser or Landen Roupp, which might signal that he plans to shorten the rotation in the first week of the season, and use one of those players as a ninth bullpen arm who needs to be available sooner rather than later. Or, more likely, it signals a desires to get some extra work for as many arms as possible.
Lefty Ryan Borucki, signed on Saturday to my deepest confusion, made his organizational debut in the second inning, and set down the side in order on a trio of ground balls, with some slick-handed help from his infield defense … which included himself.
If there’s a competition for left-handed spots in the bullpen, Borucki was in a three-way tie on Monday, as the other candidates (Erik Miller and Matt Gage), both pitched perfect innings as well. All three pounded the strike zone, with Borucki throwing 10 of 14 pitches for strikes, Miller throwing eight of 11, and Gage tossing nine of 13. But there may not be a competition, other than a healthy one. Earlier in the day, during the Giants Talk podcast, reporter Alex Pavlovic stated that the team has been trending towards three southpaw relievers, and the Borucki signing would seem to confirm that — neither he nor Gage have options, and there’s no way that Miller gets left off of the Opening Day roster. So it would seem that trio will all be standing on the chalk on Wednesday.
But who will join them? Spencer Bivens is a favorite but not a lock, and he tossed a scoreless first inning with a pair of strikeouts, though he also gave up a pair of hits. Tristan Beck hasn’t had a strong spring, but his sweeper was downright nasty as he handled a perfect third inning with a pair of strikeouts. Caleb Kilian needed just 10 pitches for a three-up, three-down fifth inning, though his velocity was a far cry from what we saw earlier this spring, as it topped out at 96.0 mph. The Giants need some electricity, and Kilian feels like a logical choice to make the roster as an NRI, especially with Gregory Santos already reassigned to Minor League camp. Although Santos made one last statement, reminding us all that he could be a serious addition to the bullpen at some point this year: he pitched a scoreless ninth with a hit and a strikeout, with eight of 11 pitches going for strikes, and hit 99.2 mph with his fastball.
Even Marques Johnson, who was not in camp this year, impressed in his opportunity, handling a perfect eighth inning on just nine pitches, while striking out two with a dynamic sweeper/cutter combo meal.
The lone pitching hiccup came from Carson Seymour, who gave up four singles and two runs in his inning of work. That said, it wasn’t like Seymour got lit up or lost control: he threw 19 of 25 pitches for strikes, while one of the hits he allowed was a doink at 68.3 mph, with two more in the 80s. He wasn’t helped by his defense either, which had a rare sloppy inning: Heliot Ramos sold out to try to make a play for his teammate, diving at a ball he probably shouldn’t have dove at … and then, in don’t-hurt-yourself-before-opening-day fashion, lightly jogged after the ball, letting a double turn into a triple. Later in the inning, Arráez committed a throwing error on a play where Schmitt surely felt he should have caught the ball.
On offense, there were exciting signs of life. Schmitt and Patrick Bailey lined back-to-back opposite-field singles to open the third inning, with the former scoring on a bunt single by Oliva (one of two infield hits he had on the day). Jung Hoo Lee smoked a two-run double later in the inning, as the Giants started to take control of the game.
In the sixth inning, Willy Adames — who had a fairly miserable spring — crushed a leadoff home run (Ramos almost made it back-to-back shots, with a fly ball that fooled the broadcast booth, if not the atmosphere).
But the exciting hit of the day came in the eighth inning. As the Giants started to pull their regulars, Bryce Eldridge came up for his lone at-bat of the day. Eldridge was, to his disappointment, optioned last week, all but ensuring that he won’t make the Opening Day roster. He responded on Sunday in the organization’s intrasquad game when he donned a AAA Sacramento jersey and took Tyler Mahle deep for a booming home run, before later doubling. On Monday, against Sultanes, Eldridge played in a big league ballpark for the first time in his life (apologies, Athletics — Sutter Health Park doesn’t count).
And with two on and one out, and a 3-1 count, Eldridge took a cutter on the outer half of the plate, and launched it into the left field bleachers with astounding ease.
Lest you question Eldridge’s power potential, you don’t see a lot of opposite-field home runs hit that easily at Oracle Park. And especially not from the bats of 21-year olds.
It was certainly a statement from Eldridge to Vitello and Buster Posey. He has taken the assignment in stride, and said and done all the right things. But he wants to leave no doubt where he is going, and no doubt about the speed at which he’ll get there.
This game might have been about setting the team up for Opening Day, but it ended up being about the future.
A few other notes:
- Also homering was Tyler Fitzgerald, which was great to see. He had a really tough camp, but his speed, power, and versatility make him so intriguing. He’ll be fighting to work his way back to the roster (he was optioned already) and should get plenty of chances if he performs well in Sacramento.
- Solid days for the outfielders who are still in camp trying to earn a spot. In addition to Oliva’s 2-3 day, Luis Matos drew a walk in his only plate appearance, while Drew Gilbert singled. Will Brennan went 0-1, and Jerar Encarnación didn’t play.
- Matt Chapman made some fantastic defensive plays. He looks about as ready as ready can be.
- Kruk and Kuip had quite a join them for in-game interviews: Posey, Arráez, Logan Webb, and Sergio Romo. It was a lot of fun.
- The five hardest-hit balls of the day for the Giants: Ramos’ flyout (104.5 mph); Oliva’s infield single (103.9); Eldridge’s home run (103.8); Adames’ big fly (102.3); and a Schmitt single (101.4).
- The team’s final exhibition game is on Tuesday, again at Oracle Park, again against Sultanes, and again at 6:45 p.m. PT on NBC Bay Area. It will be interesting to see whether the Giants use a regular lineup again, or if they give their veterans a day off before Opening Day.
