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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Jesús Rodríguez, the Giants’ starting left fielder and leadoff hitter, smashed Zac Gallen’s first pitch of the day 415 feet over the center fielder’s head.
Well, that’s a paragraph no Giants fan could have imagined when Buster Posey acquired a haul of prospects with his three trades at the July 31 deadline.
At the time, Rodríguez was labeled a catcher who needed serious defensive work and a good contact hitter with little power. Now? He’s one of the pleasant surprises in spring training and could morph into a valuable utility player and man many positions.
Rodríguez has appeared at catcher, second base, and left field, and the Giants see him playing first, third, and right as well. He was recently timed at 29.4 feet per second running out a grounder, which is impressive considering the fastest Giant last year, Tyler Fitzgerald, was at 29.6.
“Pretty impressive to be able to bounce around like that as a catcher,” said Posey, the president of baseball operations, “and you see him when he runs the bases, he’s got some spring in his step. I think the most impressive part to me is the feedback you get from the coaching staff that he has a high baseball aptitude and is very coachable.”
The worst-case scenario for the Giants at the deadline was selling, not buying, because it meant the season was going nowhere. All these months later, they’re looking at the best case scenario – and that’s the group of prospects they received for Tyler Rogers, Camilo Doval, and Mike Yastrzemski.
Four of them have been in big-league camp, and all four have a chance to make contributions in 2026. Especially Rodríguez, Drew Gilbert, and Blade Tidwell. The fourth, Parks Harber, is behind the others, not yet reaching Double-A, and will get a late start to the season after pulling his hamstring over the weekend.
“We were hoping we were going to be adding at the deadline, but unfortunately, we played ourselves out of that,” said Posey, who credited scouting director Hadi Raad, player procurement director Josh Zimmerman, and the scouting and analytics staffs for the deadline prep work. “We had to change course pretty quickly, but they were ready to go, and we were in a good position to make some tough decisions. We’re excited about that group.”
Here’s an update on the four prospects and their projections:
Jesús Rodríguez
Acquired in the Doval trade with Harber and pitchers Trystan Vrieling and Carlos De La Rosa, Rodríguez is making hard contact in spring training: .353 with a .964 OPS in 15 games. Five of his 12 hits went for extra bases, and he struck out just five times in 34 at-bats.
Rodríguez, 23, is listed as a catcher, one of several backups behind Patrick Bailey, and if Rule 5 acquisition Daniel Susac opens the season as the No. 2 catcher, Rodríguez will get plenty of opportunities at Triple-A Sacramento to showcase his versatility.
Rodríguez never appeared in the majors, but he accompanied the Giants in September (on the taxi squad) to experience the big-league life and work with catching coach Alex Burg.
Giants GM Zack Minasian recalled Melvin Mora as a player whose value was producing at the plate while appearing at several positions and that Rodríguez has “a little bit of that vibe that he’s going to help you win a game, wherever he’s at.”
While mostly a catcher, Rodríguez played five positions in the Yankees’ farm system while producing a .309 batting average over six seasons.
“There have been players that have shown this ability to move around the field and impact the game every day at a different position, and sometimes those guys are players with limited defensive tools set – you try and hide them to get their bat in the lineup,” Minasian said. “I don’t know if Jesús quite fits that.
“Wherever he plays on the field, he’s going to work his tail off to be the best defender possible,” Minasian said. “Then, obviously, it’s a pretty exciting offensive skillset.”
Drew Gilbert
Gilbert, 25, made his major-league debut in August and appeared in 39 games, displaying premier defensive skills and over-the-top energy, but his bat needs energizing for him to stick in the majors. He hit just .190 with a .248 on-base percentage.
That he sustained a shoulder impingement in late February, probably caused by overdoing it in throwing drills, put him behind other outfielders.
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He was acquired with Tidwell in the Rogers deal, two Tennessee kids on a team managed by former Volunteers coach Tony Vitello. The Giants’ brain trust has been familiar with both players from its research entering the 2022 draft, where Gilbert was taken in the first round and Tidwell in the second round.
“The Gilbert energy and defense is something that we all gravitated to,” Minasian said. “We had some sense of it going into it. But getting to see him daily, you really appreciate it.”
Drew Gilbert made his MLB debut with the Giants in August. | Source: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty ImagesBlade Tidwell
Like Gilbert, the 24-year-old Tidwell needs more Triple-A development. In 6 ⅔ innings, he has surrendered seven runs, but the team loves his repertoire and upside – Minasian spoke of Tidwell’s slider as “a separator pitch” – and believes he’ll be a factor in San Francisco.
Tidwell got a brief taste of the big leagues as a Met. After the trade, he pitched well with Sacramento (1.50 ERA, 24 strikeouts, 18 innings), but a shoulder injury cost him a chance to join the Giants in September.
Tidwell is part of a group of young starters who’ll open at Sacramento unless somebody is needed in the bullpen. Trevor McDonald would be the likely choice, having outpitched others including Carson Seymour and Carson Whisenhunt with a 1.80 ERA over four outings.
Parks Harber
The Giants aren’t ruling out Harber, 24, reaching the bigs in 2026 even though he hasn’t played past A-ball. That’s how much they think of him as a hitter. He owns a .312 minor-league average.
The undrafted third baseman was continuing to build momentum until the hamstring injury. He was hitting .357 with a .995 OPS and, like Rodriguez, showing quality bat-to-ball skills with five K’s in 28 at-bats.
“He never looked overmatched to me,” Posey said.
With third baseman Matt Chapman signed through 2030, the Giants are discussing ways to make Harber more versatile. Minasian said perhaps he could eventually play third, first, left, and right.
“We want him to feel comfortable on third base. We’re going to test him there,” Minasian said. “But I think we all recognize, with Matt Chapman’s presence and then how well Parks has played, being able to play other positions is going to be important. Those are still conversations that we’re having.”
Parks Harber played in the Arizona Fall League after being acquired in the trade that sent Camilo Doval to the Yankees. | Source: Chris Bernacchi/Diamond Images via Getty ImagesThe other guys
The Giants acquired veteran reliever José Buttó in the Rogers deal, and expect him to play an important role in their bullpen.
They added Trystan Vrieling, 25, and Carlos De La Rosa, 18, in the Doval trade, and pitcher Yunior Marte, 22, in the move that sent Yastrzemski to Kansas City. Vrieling is the most advanced of the trio, while Marte and De La Rosa will pitch at lower levels this season.