OAKLAND, Calif. — Casey Schmitt’s first taste of the big leagues was an uninterrupted, three-month stretch of relatively consistent playing time. His introductory stint ended Saturday night in Oakland, when he packed his bags in the Coliseum visitor’s clubhouse and got optioned to Triple-A Sacramento.
Schmitt, 24, hit .205 with a .258 on-base percentage in 68 games with the Giants. He cracked two homers and drove in 25 runs while bouncing around three infield positions. He experienced ups and downs, often learning the hard way how to cope with failure at the big-league level.
The Giants optioned him to Sacramento and recalled newly acquired utility player Mark Mathias because they think the latter can provide more competitive at-bats at the moment and think Schmitt can better develop with more regular playing time with the River Cats.
“I believe that his player development is really important,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said Sunday. “And you can see how (Brandon Crawford) is taking control of his at-bats right now. Playing really good baseball, needs to be out there against righties obviously. You could see a scenario unfolding where Casey just wasn’t getting consistent at-bats. What I mentioned to him is: we need him to go play. He knows that there’s an element of performance that’s going to keep you at the Major League level — that he’s capable of — and it just hasn’t been there over the past calendar month or more.”
While extremely gifted defensively, Schimtt isn’t the most heralded, talented or polished homegrown Giants prospect. He isn’t the youngest and doesn’t have the highest upside. But in a season of a myriad of anticipated Giants debuts, Schmitt was somewhat of a trailblazer.
Schmitt first suited up for the Giants on May 9, capitalizing on an impressive spring training on both sides of the ball. He debuted before Patrick Bailey, Luis Matos, Ryan Walker, and Keaton Winn. Schmitt represented the first domino of the story of San Francisco’s season: a transitional youth movement on a parallel track of immediate postseason contention.
Schmitt immediately captured fans’ attentions. The infielder homered in his debut, taking Patrick Corbin deep in front of his jubilant family at Oracle Park.
Schmitt brought with him youthful exuberance, an infectious smile and boyish charm to the team. He lightened up the clubhouse and team bus.
On the field, he flashed the rare arm strength that earned him comparisons to Gold Glover Matt Chapman. He made the hardest throw by an infielder in MLB and routinely eclipsed 90 mph on cross-diamond snaps.
In the batter’s box, Schmitt was extremely aggressive. At first, his athleticism and natural bat-to-ball skills won out. He hit .325 with a .799 OPS in the month of May. He’d often swing at a pitcher’s first or second offering and didn’t take a walk until his 18th game.
Once pitchers discovered Schmitt’s aggression, the results flipped. In 46 games since May, Schmitt hasn’t homered. He’s struck out 35 times compared to nine walks. His average has dipped to a season-low .205 at time of his demotion.
Schmitt started to display more plate discipline recently, but ran out of time to prove whether or not that strategy is viable because of Crawford and Estrada’s returns.
Even when he wasn’t hitting, Schmitt provided some value has a versatile, elite defender. He stuck with the Giants despite his struggles because of injuries to Crawford and Thairo Estrada. He, like the other young Giants, have been tasked with both helping the Giants win games and developing their own skills at the highest level there is.
“I think the time he spent at the Major League level, even the time that was a bit of a struggle, there’s a lot of player development happening,” Kapler said. “A lot of growth happens when you’re stumbling, looking for ways to pull yourself out of those struggles.”
Now, the Giants’ incentives are more tilted toward winning games. Mathias, a career 100 OPS+ hitter in 68 MLB games, is more likely to give the Giants a tough at-bat off the bench than Schmitt is. Mathias, who came to SF in the AJ Pollock trade, took infield work at second base pregame and describes himself as a gap-to-gap hitter who can run into a homer every now and then. He may not be on the roster for long, but his presence allows the Giants to give Schmitt more opportunities with the River Cats.
“I think pitchers exploited the fact that Casey really wanted to swing, and swing early in counts,” Kapler said. “Casey made an adjustment in the past couple of weeks where he was a little more disciplined early in counts. At that point, we saw the progress he was making and appreciated the progress he was making, but also kind of ran out of opportunities for him with Thairo’s arrival.”
Like all players, Schmitt had to adjust to the opposition’s adjustments. Whenever he returns, he’ll have to continue doing as much.
- Sunday is 20 days since Luis González began his rehab assignment. González has an option remaining, meaning the Giants can send him to Sacramento.
González hit .254 last season before undergoing offseason back surgery. He could be viewed as insurance if the Giants’ outfield mix gets further hit by the injury bug.
- Top prospect Kyle Harrison made his first Triple-A start since injuring his hamstring on Saturday night. Giants president of baseball operations recently said it won’t take much for the Giants to call Harrison up, but the southpaw certainly didn’t do enough.
Harrison walked the first four batters he faced. He benefitted from a double play at the plate before eventually settling in. He allowed one run in two innings, throwing 42 pitches.
The Giants will certainly want to see better command out of Harrison before giving him a chance.
- The A’s hosted a season-high 37,553 paying fans at the Coliseum on Saturday, creating for a raucous environment in San Francisco’s 2-1 loss. Sunday’s game should be similar, as the A’s put on a pregame Hall of Fame ceremony in front of many spectators who filed in early.