Auditions for 2025 outfield positions for San Francisco will continue Thursday night when the host Giants seek to take a series win off the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers.
Outfielders Jerar Encarnacion and Mike Yastrzemski combined for four hits — including two homers — and seven RBIs when the Giants put on a power display in a 13-2 shellacking of the Brewers on Wednesday night.
Milwaukee recorded a 3-2 win in the opener of the three-game series on Tuesday. Yastrzemski and fellow outfielder Heliot Ramos combined for both of the Giants’ runs as well as two of their four hits and one of their two RBIs.
In a season that began with Michael Conforto, Jung Hoo Lee and Yastrzemski manning the outfield from left to right, the Giants (72-74) have used 10 different left fielders, eight center fielders and eight right fielders this season. Three players have gotten time at all three positions, including top prospects Ramos and Luis Matos.
Lee, a high-priced player from South Korea, is expected to return as the starting center fielder next year after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in May. He was hitting .262 at the time, having batted leadoff almost exclusively.
Ramos (20) and Conforto (16) lead Giants outfielders in home runs, while Yastrzemski (15) has come on strong with homers in his last two games.
Grant McCray, who had a two-homer game last week but is considered more of a defensive specialist, was asked what he expected the outfield to look like in 2025.
“Me and Jung Hoo,” he replied. “I don’t care who the other guy is.”
Giants outfielders will take their cracks in the series finale against right-hander Frankie Montas (6-10, 4.69 ERA), an in-season acquisition who is trying to pitch his way into the postseason plans of the Brewers (83-62).
A former member of the Oakland Athletics, Montas has faced the Giants three times in his career without recording a decision. He has pitched to a 3.24 ERA over 16 2/3 innings in those games.
Montas began the season with the Cincinnati Reds, for whom he went 4-8 with a 5.01 ERA in 19 starts. But he has turned things around with Milwaukee, going 2-2 with a 3.92 ERA in seven starts.
“(Pitching coach Chris) Hook has been doing a really good job on correcting mechanical stuff,” Montas said of his recent success. “I definitely feel like every time I step on the mound, I feel better and better. Just got to continue grinding and continue working.”
The Giants are expected to start rookie right-hander Hayden Birdsong (3-5, 5.19 ERA) in search of the series win. The 23-year-old originally was scheduled to pitch the series opener, but he was pushed back two days in the wake of recent struggles.
Birdsong has allowed seven runs in 6 2/3 innings in a pair of losses his last two times out. That sequence began with a 6-0 loss at Milwaukee last month in which he gave up five runs and four hits in 3 2/3 innings in his only lifetime appearance against the Brewers.
–Field Level Media