San Francisco Giants Rookie Lands Among Top 20 Shortstops After Breakout Season

The San Francisco Giants have a lot of work to do in order to contend, but they have found a solid piece for their offense.

Sep 25, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald (49) catches the ball to stop Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll (7) from stealing second base in the first inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images / Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

While the 2024 season as a whole was not what the San Francisco Giants envisioned, there were a few bright spots the organization could be happy about.

Under new president of baseball operations Buster Posey, the Giants were able to sign star third baseman Matt Chapman to a long-term contract extension, keeping him in the Bay Area for what could be the remainder of his career.

San Francisco also found surprising production from an unexpected source in shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald.

He made his Major League debut in 2023, though he failed to stick at the level, hitting only .219/.265/.469 with two home runs, five RBI, and a 99 OPS+ across 34 plate appearances in 10 games.

It was not the best showing for a young player making their debut, and it had many questioning Fitzgerald's future as a Major Leaguer.

The shortstop shattered all doubts in 2024, however, when he batted .280/.334/.497 with 15 home runs, 34 RBI, and a 136 OPS+ across 341 plate appearances in 96 games.

The lion's share of the damage that Fitzgerald did at the plate this year came while manning shortstop, as he hit .293/.350/.537 with 14 home runs, 29 RBI, and a 141 OPS+ across 283 plate appearances in 71 games.

It was a breakout performance for the rookie, quickly making him a known commodity across the MLB landscape, and it landed him in the top 20 of Joel Reuter's shortstop power rankings for Bleacher Report, coming in at 17th.

"Fitzgerald was an afterthought in the spring battle between Nick Ahmed and Marco Luciano for the starting shortstop job, but when both of those guys struggled, he took over as the starter at the end of June," writes Reuter, "the 27-year-old rookie hit .280/.334/.497 with 19 doubles, 15 home runs, 34 RBI and 17 steals in 96 games, and while his .380 BABIP and middling batted-ball metrics make him a clear regression candidate, that does nothing to detract from his stellar 2024 performance."

While regression could prove detrimental to Fitzgerald's staying power in the lineup, he still may move out of shortstop for the club as, defensively, he graded out as one of the worst at the position in baseball.

Per Baseball Savant, Fitzgerald totaled -4 Outs Above Average in his time at the position this year, while tallying positive totals at each of center field, left field, and second base.

It was a spectacular offensive season for the rookie and should have been more than enough to land him another starting job in 2025, it just may come at a different position.