Giants announce first round of camp cuts

There are exactly two weeks until the San Francisco Giants open up the 2022 MLB season by hosting the Miami Marlins. Which means it’s time for the team to start trimming the roster a little bit in anticipation of Opening Day.

On Thursday and Friday, the Giants announced their first round of camp cuts, optioning four players and re-assigning another 11 to Minor League Camp.

The four players who were optioned — meaning they’re on the 40-man roster but will not be on the active roster — are outfielder Jaylin Davis and right-handed pitchers Yunior Marte, Randy Rodriguez, and Gregory Santos.

Davis and Santos appeared in games for the Giants last year, while Marte and Rodriguez were added to the 40-man roster early in the offseason to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft that never ended up happening.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see any and all three of the pitchers don a San Francisco jersey at some point this season. We know the Giants will churn with the bullpen, and some good Minor League performance from any of them could result in a call-up.

Davis, however, is in a bit of a precarious position. He’s struggled since the Giants traded for him in 2019, and has had a hard time limiting his strikeouts — that seems to make him rather expendable, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him designated for assignment at some point.

But on the other hand, Davis plays strong defense and has good power, and the Giants are sorely lacking in right-handed outfielder depth, with no proven players behind Darin Ruf and Austin Slater. Davis could easily stick in Sacramento and be the first name called should the Giants need an additional outfielder.

The 11 players who have been reassigned — which is to say they’re under contract but not on the 40-man roster — are a little bit less noteworthy: right-handed pitchers Bryan Brickhouse, Cody Carroll, Gary Fenter, Norwith Gudiño, Luis Ortiz, Corey Oswalt, Peter Tago, and Jeremy Walker, left-handed pitcher Joe Palumbo, infielder Wyatt Mathisen, and outfielder Ka’ai Tom.

It’s certainly not out of the question that some of these players could make the Majors later in the year, but it won’t be Opening Day.

The Giants have to get their active roster to 28 players by the first game on April 8, and then trim it to 26 by the start of May. They currently have 52 players in camp — 36 of whom are on the 40-man roster, and 16 non-roster invitees.