by
Greek Giant

That Brandon Belt is officially no longer a Giant and a member of the Blue Jays the question arises: Who will play first base for the Giants in 2023? One thing is sure: You can bet your Carlos Correa physical results that it will be a platoon position. Here are the principals involved in the first base equation as of press time:

  • LaMonte Wade Jr.
  • Wilmer Flores
  • Brett Wisely
  • Future AAAA player in town for a cup of coffee

Taking a look at the current 40-man roster for the Giants gives you these players listed as Infielders (for some that’s a bit of a stretch but I digress…)

Infielders B/T Ht Wt DOB
Brandon Crawford
Brandon Crawford 35 L/R 6′ 1″ 223 01/21/1987
J.D. Davis
J.D. Davis 7 R/R 6′ 3″ 218 04/27/1993
Isan Díaz
Isan Díaz 1 L/R 5′ 11″ 201 05/27/1996
Thairo Estrada
Thairo Estrada 39 R/R 5′ 10″ 185 02/22/1996
Wilmer Flores
Wilmer Flores 41 R/R 6′ 2″ 213 08/06/1991
Marco Luciano
Marco Luciano R/R 6′ 2″ 178 09/10/2001
David Villar
David Villar 70 R/R 6′ 1″ 215 01/27/1997
Brett Wisely
Brett Wisely L/R 5′ 10″ 180 05/08/1999

I had no idea who Brett Wisely is. Evidently he is a ghost because the Giants could not even be bothered to put his photo on their official website, from which I poached the above images. But one look at his baseball reference page shows you that he last played for AA Montgomery. So there’s that.

So that makes potentially three first baseman and not one of them is considered a solid glove. With BB9 gone the Giants lost a lot of defense. Even if Belt’s knees and creaky frame no longer gave him the range he had as a wee young lad in say, 2014, his ability to scoop up bad throws was a huuuuuuuge asset.

I see the Giants making a move before Spring Training for a better glove/bat for first base and for a backup catcher. The 40-man roster is by no means set. As Dr. Lefty has stated in her comments and recent post, letting Wynns walk is a head-scratcher since Joey Bart is by no means an established everyday catcher yet but that’s a discussion for another day. Right now I am laying awake at night wondering who will anchor the first base bag, perhaps the most underrated position on the diamond in terms of its importance defensively. It is said by many brilliant baseball minds that the most important defensive positions on the diamond are catcher and first base because they handle the baseball more than anyone.