Giants infielder Donovan Solano has somewhat quietly held his own since the team selected his contract from Triple-A Sacramento on May 7. Dating back to then, Solano has slashed .331/.363/.471 (119 wRC+) with four home runs across 168 plate appearances. Not bad for someone who had to settle for a minor league pact when he joined the Giants last offseason.
Solano’s output this year has been all the more impressive considering he hadn’t appeared in the majors since 2016 prior to his promotion to San Francisco’s roster. He logged a fair amount of playing time with the Marlins from 2012-15 and a bit with the Yankees the year after his Miami tenure ended, but he only managed a .257/.306/.331 line during that 1,168-PA span between the two teams. What’s more, Solano didn’t acquit himself particularly great as a minor leaguer with the Marlins, Yankees or Dodgers, evidenced in part by his lifetime .724 OPS in 2,570 PA at the Triple-A level. He was solid – albeit far from excellent – as a member of the Giants’ top minors affiliate at the outset of the season, hitting .322/.392/.437 (108 wRC+) with a pair of homers over 97 attempts as part of the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
Solano’s early season production in Sacramento was enough to earn him another big league call-up, and he hasn’t looked back. His effectiveness has played a role in the resurgence of the Giants, who have rallied from the dead this summer to at least enter the National League wild-card conversation. The question is: Might the Giants – who haven’t gotten much from any second base choice but Solano – have actually found a legitimate late bloomer? Going by the numbers, it’s a mixed bag.
Solano’s .397 batting average on balls in play isn’t going to continue, which is especially ominous for someone who doesn’t hit for much power, and his 87 mph average exit velocity ranks toward the bottom of the league. He also seldom walks, having drawn free passes at a subpar 4.8 percent clip.
Solano has, however, offset his lack of walks to some degree by striking out less than most hitters (20.2 percent). When he has put the bat on the ball, the right-hander has increased his line drives and hard-contact rate (according to FanGraphs), cut down on grounders, and recorded quality production against righty and lefty hurlers alike. Solano has struggled mightily at the Giants’ pitcher-friendly confines of Oracle Park, where he has batted .266/.289/.304, though he has made up for that by slashing a fantastic .397/.435/.641 on the road. Overall, Statcast shows little difference between Solano’s weighted on-base average (.356) and expected wOBA (.359).
While Solano had made clear improvements this season, it’s highly debatable whether he could emerge as a multiyear solution for the Giants. Even if he doesn’t, the Giants couldn’t have expected Solano to put up what has easily been a career campaign in 2019 when they inked him to a no-risk deal. Given the work Solano has done in a San Francisco uniform, he looks like one of the winter’s top minor league signings at this point.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
You guys should do another best minor league signings article, those are always cool to see
I’m curious what Zaidi saw in Solano to merit even a minor league signing. He missed a fair amount, especially with outfielders this year. But he seems to have an instinct for potential.
He didn’t really miss. He looked at as many guys as he could. No one knows who can break out, and the only way to know is give them a shot. Tyler Austin was no more an obvious failure than Mike Yastrzemski was. As far as the OF goes it’s far from the disaster it had been in previous seasons, and even less so than at the beginning of this season. I think Zaidi has done as good a job as was possible.
I would bump Zaidi’s grade up to excellent. He’s gotten value out of castoffs and made the big club entertaining. He’s reduced future salary obligations. He’s added talent to the farm system, and those teams are showing some success. It could all collapse tomorrow. But, he seems to be building a foundation for longterm future success.
Yaz and Dickerson, enough said. And now pillar has set season high in RBI’s and just tied his season high today against the dbacks. Those three have helped turn the season around.
Season high in HR that is ^
If he keep this up, next season when Bochy is gone, Crawford will be 2nd chair to Solano.
After auditioning every outfielder save for the bones of Ty Cobb and babe Ruth, the Giants struck gold with Yaz, and Dickerson. The cherry on top was Pillar. Heretofore a low BA guy with high K rates, he has flourished in San Francisco. That is surprising since their home park ain’t the most hitter friendly place around.
Sad they got off to such a poor start or else they might even be ahead in the wild-card race.
Said I certainty deserves some credit but what amazing job Boxh has done again with a mediocre at best roster. He is an incredible manager and will be sorely missed next year.
Zaidi*
Sheesh..Boche*
Bochy. No e.
Let’s gets some T-shirts made “Hell Yaz”. My dude is a beast. 3hr last night. What a great addition he’s been this year. zhadi has done an amazing job thus far. Very impressed. Go Giants!!
Pretty good for a guy who was a mediocre AAA player in the IL last year. But, that was having to hit with a real baseball, not the major league super ball.
What a difference a yr (or 2) make! This is a fun and exciting team where all players are contributing. In the past when we got behind we would fold. This year they have fire in the belly to fight back ! Go giants