Could Giants Upgrade at Second Base With Trade for Intriguing Veteran?

The San Francisco Giants' infield has been one of the trickiest to figure out in the MLB, and third baseman Matt Chapman's trip to the injured list with a sprained hand does not help.

Casey Schmitt has stepped in and stabilized the corner for now, recording two hits and two RBI on Wednesday against the Colorado Rockies.

But there's work to be done.

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Willy Adames, while not in the same free fall that he was during the first month of the season, is still grossly underperforming, slashing .203/.288/.339 with seven home runs. Dominic Smith feels like a very uninspiring Band-Aid at first base and Tyler Fitzgerald has been arguably the most underwhelming player for the Giants who is both still on the team and gets consistent playing time.

Fitzgerald is slashing .248/.315/.346 with 44 strikeouts and just eight extra-base hits. According to Baseball Savant, he is in the bottom 10th percentile in many key stats, including xwOBA, xSLG, Avg Exit Velocity and Hard-Hit%.

He is a weaker, contact-dependent hitter who does not bat over .250.

He also has extremely poor discipline metrics, with below-average percentages in K%, Whiff% and Chase%.

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If San Francisco wants to truly compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres in the National League West, it might have to find an upgrade at the position.

Someone who they could target is Luis Urias of the Athletics.

Slashing .241/.337/.386 with six home runs, he has been much improved this year compared to what he has done during his previous stops.

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Urias might not pack more power than Fitzgerald, but his strikeout and swing-and-miss metrics are much more friendly. He also walks more and is a more complete player from an advanced statistics standpoint, even if the numbers are comparable.

Urias is on a one-year, $1.1 million contract with the Athletics, so a trade for him would be a small rental to add depth should Fitzgerald's high strikeout numbers continue.

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