Part of a series of articles previewing the defensive performance of all 30 MLB teams by asking the question … are they good? We give an overview of team strengths, weaknesses, and other things to know, using Defensive Runs Saved and other stats as the basis for our evaluation. To see the full series, click here.
2025 Team Defensive Runs Saved Rank: 16th
Team Strengths
Catcher Patrick Bailey won our Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2025. He’s the best defensive catcher in baseball and the best pitch framer. And though MLB’s new pitch replay review system may ding catchers, Bailey has repeatedly said he thinks he’s still going to do pretty well in any pitch framing measurements and won’t lose many strike calls.
Most Defensive Runs Saved – Catchers Since Start of 2023
| Player | Runs Saved |
| Patrick Bailey | 52 |
| Alejandro Kirk | 39 |
| Freddy Fermin | 37 |
| Gabriel Moreno | 31 |
| Austin Hedges | 25 |
At third base, Matt Chapman has a long history of making plays that other third basemen don’t make, particularly due to his being able to throw from long distances and awkward angles. He did drop to 5 Runs Saved last season after posting 12 and 17 the two years before that, but we still think he’s quite good.
ost Defensive Runs Saved – Third Basemen Since Start of 2023
| Player | Runs Saved |
| Ke’Bryan Hayes | 50 |
| Ryan McMahon | 36 |
| Matt Chapman | 34 |
| Ernie Clement | 20 |
| Maikel Garcia | 15 |
Harrison Bader takes over for Jung Hoo Lee in center field. The Giants don’t need Bader to be great in order for there to be a significant improvement in their center field defense. They just need him to be decent. He’s had seasons of 18 and 15 Runs Saved in center in the past and had 6 Runs Saved in 81 games in center last season.
Team Weaknesses
Heliot Ramos had a rough year in left field last season. He had -6 Runs Saved and 38 Misplays and Errors*. Both in total and on a per-inning basis his Misplays and Errors ranked last at the position.
Defensive Misplays are plays in which the fielder did something (or didn’t do something) resulting in a negative consequence, such as taking a bad route or overthrowing a cutoff man.
Other Things To Know
The Giants have a number of players who grade out as okay. Other than one season, Luis Arraez has been an occasional second baseman who has put up as many as 4 Runs Saved and as few as -9.
Willy Adames had a rough 2024 at shortstop but climbed back to -2 Runs Saved in 2025. He’s had three seasons with at least 8 Runs Saved at shortstop, so the good version of him might come out again at some point.
It’s too early to cast judgements but in 29 games at first base last season, Rafael Devers looked … alright. He had 6 Misplays and Errors, which is a lot for a small number of games but he had 2 Runs Saved. More sample size is needed here.
We’ll be curious to see how Lee does in moving to right field. Center fielders typically do better when moved to corner outfield spots. Our Andrew Kyne did a study a few years ago in which the average improvement in Runs Saved for one is 8 Runs. Lee has nowhere to go but up after a -18 Runs Saved season in 2025.
And Tyler Fitzgerald, if he’s on the roster at any point, will be in a super utility role. Fitzgerald’s best spot seems to be second base, where he had 7 Runs Saved in 69 games last season.
Are the Giants a good defensive team?
The Giants have a somewhat above-average MLB defense. If Bader is good in center field at Oracle Park (a tough place to field) and Devers is respectable at first base, then maybe the Giants approach the Top 10 in Runs Saved this season.
