SAN FRANCISCO — Just about nothing is going right for the Giants’ offense, but Casey Schmitt has been the lone exception.
On Monday, he hammered his fifth home run of the season and is responsible for their past three trips around the bases dating back to last Saturday.
Consider the versatile 27-year-old’s breakout a rare bright spot in an otherwise dreadful start. Schmitt has been so good, in fact, and the Giants so bad, that he may need to acquire some new equipment.
An outfielder’s mitt.
Manager Tony Vitello wasn’t just kidding around when he said Schmitt, who plays all four infield positions, could add corner outfield to his portfolio — just to keep his bat in the lineup.
“It’s a definite possibility,” Vitello said before Schmitt homered again in Monday’s 3-2 win over the Padres.
In a lineup that has produced the fewest runs in the majors, Schmitt has led the pack so far in home runs (five), RBIs (16), on-base percentage (.359), slugging (.542) and OPS+ (155).
He has a strong arm and has shown an ability to move around the diamond, but Schmitt said he hasn’t played outfield since he was a sophomore at Eastlake High School outside San Diego.
He remembers shagging fly balls at one point last season, but admitted he doesn’t own an outfield glove.
“I’ll see if I can find one. Someone will have an extra one, for sure — it’s the big leagues,” Schmitt said. “I’m open to anything.”
The early struggles of Willy Adames (64 OPS+), Rafael Devers (64 OPS+) and Matt Chapman (89 OPS+) opened the door for Schmitt to get everyday opportunities. But it also led to the promotion Monday of top prospect Bryce Eldridge, further crowding the picture in the infield and at designated hitter.
The Giants gave Chapman the night off Monday with Schmitt at third base, his best and natural position.
They plan to incorporate more rest days for their struggling veterans, so, Vitello said, “there’s not going to be any excuses, not that there have been, but they’re going to be fresh of mind and fresh of body.”
Eldridge, batting .333 with a .963 OPS at Triple-A, will split time between DH and first base, covering the field when Devers is out of the lineup.
They certainly want to maximize Luis Arraez’s playing time at second base, so that leaves Schmitt, the hot-hitting youngster, and two highly paid, underperforming veterans in Chapman and Adames for the remaining two spots on the left side of the infield.
Unless Schmitt’s versatility allows them to get creative.
“I was pretty decent (as an outfielder). I wasn’t too bad,” said Schmitt, who also pitched, going on to close games at San Diego State. “Freshman year, I played left field. A little bit of center. Then I played right my sophomore year for a good, at least half the high school season.”
Schmitt’s happy-go-lucky attitude has made him popular among his teammates and made it easy for him to adapt.
He was poised to be their third baseman of the future, until they signed and extended Chapman, so he became a jack-of-all-trades on the dirt. He could have been their starting second baseman this season, but they signed Arraez in free agency, leaving him without a position.
When Devers wasn’t able to play the field to begin the season, Schmitt — already in possession of a first base glove — stepped up and cemented his spot.
Vitello paid Schmitt a compliment: He compared him to a Little Leaguer.
“Casey’s one of several guys who are all good hitters but he’s probably performing the best right now because he keeps things the most simple,” Vitello said. “That doesn’t mean he’s not competitive. He’s come over to the dugout and the helmet’s gone a little too hard into the helmet rack sometimes. But then he moves right back on.
“He’s probably as close as we have right now to playing the game like a Little Leaguer. Yeah, you’ve got to have some savvy and some intelligence, but sometimes when you’re struggling the best thing you can do is just go out there and play the game like a Little Leaguer. With some passion, some fun, a little bit of looseness. But also you want to compete. You win in little league, you get ice cream; you don’t you don’t.”
