By Jordan Long
MLB is right around the corner. For most teams, pitchers and catchers will report to spring training on Wednesday or Thursday. The L.A. Dodgers and the San Diego Padres pitchers and catchers already have. The Dodgers’ date was February 9th while the Padres occurred on February 11th. The San Francisco Giants added a bat to their lineup that they hope will improve their team.
The Giants finished last year at 79-83, a step back from 2022 when they ended at 81-81. They missed the playoffs in both of those seasons.
Going into this year’s offseason, the Giants knew they wanted to improve the offense. They were 28th in total batting average at .235. When it came to home runs, the Giants smacked 174, 18th in all of baseball. Their lack of offense is what cost them the playoffs.
The Giants signed Jorge Soler to a 3-year, $42 million contract or paying him $14 million a year. Soler has played at the MLB level since 2014 with the Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves, and Miami Marlins. Last year with the Marlins, Soler’s batting average ended at .250 with 36 home runs. The home runs were his highest total since 2019 when he smacked 48.
Soler is used mostly as a designated hitter. If called upon Solar can also play the outfield. Last year, Miami placed him in right field for 32 games. He didn’t have an error or record an outfield assist.
The Giants are anticipating Soler to be their designated hitter. They know their offense needs to be improved if they are going to compete with the L.A. Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks inside their division. L.A. won the National League West Division while Arizona earned a Wild Card spot. There is more work to be done for San Francisco, but this is a step in the right direction. They hope to be more competitive this season.
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