SF Giants make surprise moves while setting Opening Day roster, lineup

NEW YORK — Brett Wisely was enjoying dinner Wednesday night in Manhattan when Gabe Kapler called to tell him there wasn’t a spot on the Giants’ Opening Day roster. He had just woken up the following morning when he got another call. There was room on the roster, after all.

Half an hour later, Wisely was on the team bus en route to Yankee Stadium for his major-league debut. His Florida-based family wasn’t able to pivot so quickly. They were scheduled to fly to New York, until Wisely informed them of the unfortunate news Wednesday night.

“They all canceled all their flights,” Wisely said. “Nobody’s coming out here. But they’re going to try to get on a flight soon. … My heart’s pounding. I’m excited. What a crazy ride.”

A crazy ride could sum up the final 24 hours before the Giants finalized their Opening Day roster prior to Thursday’s season opener.

The club acquired corner infielder/outfielder Matt Beaty from Kansas City for cash, which stole a roster spot from Bryce Johnson, whose stolen bases made him one of the Giants’ spring standouts. Another top performer from camp, right-hander Sean Hjelle, was also left off the Opening Day roster.

Their final roster decision — adding Wisely — came three hours before the noon local time deadline to finalize their group of 26 they would take into the regular season. They also flew Hjelle to New York and will know more about his ultimate destination depending on how their pitching shakes out Thursday.

“There was nothing that was totally unexpected,” manager Gabe Kapler said before first pitch.

Beaty, who will wear No. 45, had been on their radar for “a while,” Kapler said. A 29-year-old left-handed hitter, Kapler said Beaty was the best fit for the roster at the moment because he gives them a bat on the bench they can use to play the matchups late in games. Beaty, however, is a career .252/.324/.412 hitter against right-handers, batted .093 in 43 at-bats with the Padres in 2022 and didn’t make the Royals’ roster out of camp.

By opting for Beaty, who mostly plays first and third base and left field, over Johnson left the Giants with Wisely as their only back up to Mike Yastrzemski in center field. While Wisely played some outfield in the minors, he only began playing center this spring, with mixed results.

Until Austin Slater (hamstring) or Mitch Haniger (oblique) returns, or Johnson (a switch-hitter) is called up, the Giants will be entirely left-handed in their outfield.

The decisions to leave Johnson and Hjelle off the roster came as surprise, given the kind words both garnered from Kapler and Giants president Farhan Zaidi in the final days of camp.

Johnson, 27, stole more bases (12) than anybody in the Cactus or Grapefruit Leagues while playing a strong center field and showing off an ability to get himself on base via the bunt. He finished camp batting .310 (13-for-42) and had drawn seven walks to 12 strikeouts.

Kapler said that he told Johnson that he factored into the Giants’ plans this year, just not on Opening Day.

“He made every possible push to be on our Opening Day roster,” Kapler said. “We got to the end and he wasn’t right for Opening Day, necessarily, but could be right at another time pretty soon. … He understands that he’s going to make an impact on our roster this year. He had a fantastic spring.”

The message was similar to Hjelle, who added 15 pounds of muscle over the offseason and saw the payoff this spring with his fastball consistently sitting in the mid-90s. In six spring appearances, Hjelle limited opponents to three runs over 17 innings with a 22:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Ultimately, with two off days in the first two series of the season, the Giants decided to carry only 12 pitchers with 14 position players.

“I walked through with Hjelle our pitching landscape,” Kapler said. “It doesn’t look like we’re going to be particularly taxed. So we just decided a position player who can pinch run for us, run around the outfield and play the infield made the most sense for right now. What the Opening Day roster is isn’t necessarily what the roster is five days from now.”

Opening Day lineup decisions

It wasn’t just the makeup of the Opening Day roster that raised eyebrows but how their lineup was configured Thursday against the Yankees, too.

At third base, it wasn’t David Villar, who was proclaimed the “incumbent” starter, but Wilmer Flores.

And behind the plate, it was Roberto Pérez, not last year’s starter, Joey Bart.

Those decisions, Kapler said, reflected the magnitude of Opening Day more than their feelings about any particular player.

“I think Roberto is a calming presence behind the plate,” Kapler said of the 34-year-old veteran who earned a roster spot after entering spring on a minor-league deal. “On a day like today, it really pays to be easy going.”

Villar is still expected to receive regular playing time at third base, but Kapler said Flores had “earned the right to be in the middle of our lineup … from my perspective and the perspective of a lot of people in our clubhouse

“I talked to Villar about it specifically, indicated to him that it doesn’t mean he’s not going to be in the lineup on most days,” Kapler said “But today, Wilmer’s the guy and he deserved that.”

Also in the lineup: rookie Rule 5 pick Blake Sabol, who extended the Giants’ ignominious streak of different starting left fielders for the 17th consecutive Opening Day. Sabol, 25, has read up on the history, thanks to some suggested reading from shortstop Brandon Crawford. Also making his major-league debut, he’s aware of the reputation of the fans in the stands behind him.

“I was like, what are you trying to tell me, not to get too comfortable, or what?” Sabol laughed. “This is probably the mecca of bleacher creatures. It’s a privilege just to be out there. Anything they say to me, you’ll see a big ‘old smile on my face. It’s better to be on that end than being out there yelling at someone else.”

Giants Opening Day roster

Pitchers (12)

LHP Scott Alexander, RHP John Brebbia, RHP Alex Cobb, RHP Anthony DeSclafani, RHP Camilo Doval, RHP Jakob Junis, LHP Sean Manaea, LHP Taylor Rogers, RHP Tyler Rogers, RHP Ross Stripling, RHP Logan Webb & LHP Alex Wood

Catchers (3)

Joey Bart, Roberto Pérez & Blake Sabol

Infielders (7)

Brandon Crawford, J.D. Davis, Thairo Estrada, Wilmer Flores, David Villar, LaMonte Wade Jr. & Brett Wisley

Outfielders (4)

Matt Beaty, Michael Conforto, Joc Pederson & Mike Yastrzemski