Which Giants outfielders could break out in ‘25?

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With Spring Training around the corner, we’ll check in on different parts of the Giants’ roster to review last season and look ahead to 2025. We’ve already broken down the rotation, the bullpen, catcher and the infield. Our final installment will examine the outfield.

Last year, Heliot Ramos was among the first round of cuts in Spring Training. Now, the 25-year-old will report to Giants camp as not only an everyday player, but also an All-Star.

Ramos’ emergence was one of the biggest bright spots of last season and should serve as a blueprint for the type of development successes the club will need to take a big step forward in 2025. Many of the Giants’ top breakout candidates happen to be in the outfield, where the team has an intriguing mix of young players returning to the fold this year.

Here’s a look at how the unit is shaping up heading into Spring Training:

Projected starters

Left field: Heliot Ramos
With Michael Conforto joining the rival Dodgers on a one-year, $17 million deal, Ramos is projected to start in left field and continue one of the wildest Opening Day streaks in baseball. The former first-round Draft pick had to wait until May to be called up last year, but he still finished second on the club with 22 home runs and should be even more productive once he gets a full Major League season under his belt.

Center field: Jung Hoo Lee
Lee was the Giants’ biggest free-agent addition last offseason, but he ended up appearing in only 37 games before suffering a season-ending left shoulder injury in May. The 26-year-old is expected to be full go for Spring Training and could be a huge X-factor if he can bounce back and deliver the type of offensive numbers that made him a star in the KBO for seven seasons.

Right field: Mike Yastrzemski
Back for his seventh season with the Giants, Yastrzemski will bring some much-needed veteran leadership to the outfield group and should start primarily against right-handed pitching. The 34-year-old batted .231 with a .739 OPS and 18 home runs over 140 games in 2024 and was named a Gold Glove finalist for the second time in his career. He’s entering his final year of arbitration and will be eligible for free agency at the end of the season.

Backup options

Luis Matos: After earning Rookie of the Year honors in the Venezuelan Winter League, Matos is likely the frontrunner to nab the fourth outfield spot and serve as Yastrzemski’s right-handed platoon partner in right field. Matos has struggled to establish himself in the Majors over the past two seasons, but he’s shown flashes of his offensive upside and is still only 23 years old.

Jerar Encarnacion: Encarnacion opened the 2024 campaign in the Mexican League and slugged 19 home runs over 26 games for Oaxaca before joining the Giants on a Minor League deal in May. The 27-year-old slugger was selected to the big league roster in August and batted .248 with a .702 OPS and five home runs over 35 games while showing some elite exit velocity. Encarnacion is out of options and can’t be sent to the Minors without being exposed to waivers, so the Giants should give him plenty of opportunities to stick in the corner outfield or at designated hitter this spring.

Grant McCray: McCray’s speed and his ability to play center field earned him a look with the Giants down the stretch last year, though he also showed some impressive left-handed pop by crushing five homers, two triples and three doubles over 37 Major League games. Still, the 24-year-old rookie also racked up 56 strikeouts over 130 plate appearances, so he’ll need to figure out a way to make more contact and get on base more consistently moving forward.

Marco Luciano: The Giants’ former top prospect will be one of the most fascinating players to watch this spring, as he’s expected to transition from the infield to the outfield. The club hopes the position change will help him unlock his bat, which has long been viewed as his carrying tool.

Wade Meckler: Meckler appeared in 20 games for the Giants in 2023, but he dealt with a nagging wrist issue last year and ended up spending the entire season in the Minors. The 24-year-old continued to produce when healthy, batting .288 with an .865 OPS and eight homers over 44 games with Triple-A Sacramento, so he could have more opportunities to contribute to the outfield mix in 2025.