The next name on the San Francisco Giants season reviews is utility player Daniel Robertson.
Season stats
13 games, 24 plate appearances, .333/.417/.333, .750 OPS, 0 home runs, 2 RBI, 3 walks to 6 strikeouts
113 OPS+, 119 wRC+, 0.0 rWAR, 0.2 fWAR
Status throughout the season
Robertson started the season with the Tampa Bay Rays, and the Giants acquired him in exchange for cash on Aug. 23. He was recalled on Sept. 1 when Joey Rickard was placed on the Injured List, and optioned to the Alternate Training Site on Sept. 8. He was recalled again on Sept. 13, optioned the next day, and recalled one final time on Sept. 19.
Season review
Robertson may have only played in 24 games, but he managed to squeeze six different positions in — all three infield spots to the left of first, both corner outfield spots, and designated hitter.
That right there proved the value he can provide to the Giants if he can hit well. Unfortunately, he was only given a handful of plate appearances to prove that, though it’s worth noting that he did quite well in those limited appearances.
Robertson didn’t do anything fancy with the bat — he didn’t have a single extra-base hit — but he made contact, worked counts, and didn’t take many bad swings. And considering that he’s only two years removed from having a 122 OPS+ season in 340 plate appearances, there are some reasons for optimism that his small sample size in 2020 was indicative of a larger trend.
But as it was, there’s not much to write about. The Giants clearly valued him, since they sent cash to the Rays for him in the middle of a season where teams were hemorrhaging money. And they certainly see him as the play everywhere utility player that they covet, since they were willing to throw him out on nearly any real estate in the ballpark.
And to make matters better, he looked pretty nice wherever they put him.
It would have been nice to have seen more of him, but on the flip side, we primarily didn’t because the Giants had so many other players perform better than we anticipated.
Role in 2021
The Giants saw something in Robertson, and he’s still just 26. He fits their philosophy, and has shown a fair amount of potential. Is he worth giving an Opening Day roster spot to when they (presumably) shrink to 26 next season? Probably not. But i’m guessing he’ll spend a fair amount of time on the roster as a backup everywhere, and a fair amount of time in Sacramento.
Grade
If you want to expand his small small sample size stats to a large sample, and assume they hold, he might get an A. But I have to think there’s a reason that the Giants kept returning him to the Alternate Training Site and prioritizing other players over him.
B
Poll
How would you grade Daniel Robertson’s season?
This poll is closed
-
5%
A
-
23%
A-/B+
-
41%
B
-
13%
B-/C+
-
2%
C
-
1%
D
-
0%
F
-
11%
Incomplete