Giants announce 2023 Opening Day roster

NEW YORK -- A last-minute acquisition created some unexpected ripple effects for the Giants’ Opening Day roster, which was officially announced prior to the club’s matchup against the Yankees on Thursday afternoon.

The Giants sent cash considerations to the Royals to land outfielder Matt Beaty, who was selected to the Major League roster and is expected to serve as a left-handed bat off the bench. Beaty’s arrival prompted San Francisco to reassign speedy center fielder Bryce Johnson to Triple-A Sacramento, a surprising development after Johnson opened eyes by batting .310 (13-for-42) with a Cactus and Grapefruit League-leading 12 stolen bases this spring.

“Bryce is a pro,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “He understands that he’s going to make an impact on our roster this year. He had a fantastic spring. He ran the bases very well. I think he made every possible push to be on our Opening Day roster. We got to the end, and it wasn’t right for Opening Day necessarily, but it could be right at another time pretty soon.”

Another notable omission was right-hander Sean Hjelle, who was left off the roster in favor of utility man Brett Wisely, giving the Giants 14 position players and 12 pitchers on their initial 26-man roster.

Catcher (3): Joey Bart, Roberto Perez, Blake Sabol
With Austin Slater (left hamstring strain) and Mitch Haniger (Grade 1 left oblique strain) on the 10-day injured list, a path opened for the Giants to carry Sabol as a third catcher/outfielder for the start of the regular season. Sabol, a Rule 5 Draft pick, made his Major League debut in left field on Thursday, becoming the club’s 17th different Opening Day left fielder in as many seasons.

First base (1): LaMonte Wade Jr.
The Giants were willing to move on from longtime first baseman Brandon Belt to open up an everyday role for Wade, who is looking more confident at the plate now that he’s past the nagging left knee injury that torpedoed his 2022 campaign.

Second base (1): Thairo Estrada
Estrada figures to be a key piece of the Giants’ infield, as he will likely serve as the club’s primary second baseman and backup shortstop. The 27-year-old could benefit from the bigger bases this year, as he’s one of the club’s speedier players and should be incentivized to swipe more bags moving forward.

Shortstop (1): Brandon Crawford
Crawford made his 12th consecutive Opening Day start for his hometown club, tying Barry Bonds for the second-longest streak in San Francisco Giants history. Only Willie Mays (15) has started more consecutive openers for the Giants since the franchise moved west in 1958.

Third base (1): David Villar
The Giants have made it clear that Villar will enter the season with incumbent status at third base, though they decided to give the Opening Day nod to veteran Wilmer Flores, who “earned the right to be in the middle of our lineup,” per Kapler.

Outfield (4): Michael Conforto, Mike Yastrzemski, Joc Pederson**, Matt Beaty**
Beaty was with the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate in Omaha, Neb., on Wednesday when he found out he’d been acquired by the Giants. Beaty spent the first three seasons of his career with the Dodgers, where he overlapped with president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and Kapler, so he already has some ties to his new organization.

“It’s definitely comfortable coming in and having some new faces,” Beaty said. “It’ll help me kind of adjust to a new team a lot quicker.”

Utility (3): Wilmer Flores, J.D. Davis**, Brett Wisely**
Wisely was expecting to fly to Salt Lake City after initially being told he hadn’t made the team, but those plans changed on Thursday morning, when the Giants called to let him know a spot opened up on their roster. Without Johnson, the Giants needed another center-field option to back up Yastrzemski, enabling the club to carry Wisely, who is in line to make his Major League debut.

“My emotions are all over the place,” Wisely said.

Rotation (6): Logan Webb, Alex Cobb, Anthony DeSclafani, Alex Wood, Ross Stripling, Sean Manaea
The Giants loaded up on starting pitching depth by adding Stripling and Manaea on free agent deals, so there’s some question as to how the rotation will ultimately shake out since everyone is healthy. Webb, Cobb and Stripling will start the first three games against the Yankees, but Kapler didn’t rule out the possibility that one of the club’s other veterans could make an appearance out of the bullpen during this three-game series.

Bullpen (6): Camilo Doval, Taylor Rogers, Jakob Junis, Tyler Rogers, John Brebbia, Scott Alexander
The bullpen will be led by Doval, who emerged as one of the best young closers in the league after posting a 2.53 ERA with 27 saves over 68 appearances in 2022. The Giants added left-hander Taylor Rogers on a three-year, $33 million deal over the offseason, so he should feature prominently in the back-end mix alongside his twin brother, submariner Tyler Rogers, and Brebbia and Alexander.