Top Giants Storylines To Follow Through the Last Month

2. Who Is the Right Fielder for 2026?

After trading longtime Giant Mike Yastrzemski at the deadline, the Giants had some questions to answer in right field. Luis Matos seemed like the answer but struggled in 2025, and Drew Gilbert, who was acquired at the deadline, had yet to debut.

On August 7, both Matos and Gilbert were in Sacramento with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate. Fast forward to now, and they look like possible solutions for the Giants in right field.

Matos was recalled on August 21 and has been on a tear since then. In 40 plate appearances, he’s slashed .432/.450/.811 with 3 home runs and a 244 wRC+. He has looked as comfortable as ever across the last few weeks.

While we’ve seen Matos go on short runs like this before — such as when he won National League Player of the Week in May of 2024 — he needs to show he can do it over a longer stretch of games.

Gilbert, on the other hand, made his MLB debut on August 8, and while he struggled initially, has really found his footing of late.

In 11 games since August 17, Gilbert has put up a 226 wRC+ and an OPS of 1.179. Clearly, it’s a small sample size, but it’s encouraging for a new addition to the Giants’ young crop of guys. Not to mention, he brings a surplus of energy to the dugout:

Surely the Giants will look at the free agent outfield market this winter, but they have two young, talented options that they can possibly head into next year with. Gilbert is the much better defender between the two, but Matos most likely offers the potential for a higher power output.

The two young outfielders have a lot left to prove in order to secure their spots on the 2026 roster, but the recent returns from the once highly touted prospects have been encouraging.

3. Can He Make Schmitt Happen?

While the overall numbers on the year may not jump off the page for Casey Schmitt, things really changed for him on June 9.

That was the date Matt Chapman hit the injured list for around a month with a hand injury. This opened the door for Schmitt to play everyday. Initially, he went on a tear for over two weeks, slashing .375/.444/.646 with four home runs and a 206 wRC+. This included a huge home run off of Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the Giants and Dodgers first matchup of the season:

Unfortunately, Schmitt’s impressive play was brought to a halt when he spent a week on the injured list himself at the end of June. However, even with a bit of regression, Schmitt has still seen success since being named the everyday second baseman after Matt Chapman’s return.

Here’s where he ranks among all second baseman with at least 200 plate appearances since June 10:

Overall, second base is referred to as one of the weaker positions across baseball currently. While Schmitt may never be a top five player at second, if he can produce at this level across a 162-game season, he would be a well-above-average player at the position.

Now, some fans may say that the Giants saw a similar trend with Tyler Fitzgerald last season, but Schmitt’s advanced numbers are a lot more exciting.

After July 9 of last season, when Tyler Fitzgerald’s heater of 2024 started, Fitzgerald held a 33.8% hard-hit rate and a max exit velocity of 107.3 mph. Conversely, since June 10 of this season, Schmitt has a 42.6% hard-hit rate and a max exit velocity of 111.6 mph.

Simply put, Schmitt is hitting the ball significantly harder and more consistently than Fitzgerald was in his 2024 fever dream.

This is an encouraging sign that Schmitt can continue this level of play into 2026. For the Giants, if Schmitt can continue to produce over the last month, they surely have their second baseman heading into 2026.

Final Thoughts

While there’s still time for the Giants to sneak into a playoff spot or fall out of contention, there’s also some intriguing storylines for the team outside of getting into October.

Adames has the chance to do something we haven’t seen since 2007, and there are some young players who can solidify their spot on the Giants’ roster for 2026. With an expensive core of Rafael Devers, Willy Adames, and Matt Chapman, it’ll be important for San Francisco to find some young, cheap, and controllable options at a few spots.

While the record might be underwhelming, there are still a lot of reasons to pay attention and be excited if you’re a San Francisco Giants fan.

Stats were taken prior to play on September 3.