SAN FRANCISCO -- When Bryce Johnson walked into the Giants clubhouse on Wednesday afternoon, former Sacramento River Cats teammate David Villar greeted him with a huge hug. A veteran walked over and told Johnson he had just been wondering when the Giants might add him to the roster, and a bit later, Johnson got a big hug and congratulations from Will Clark.
Johnson fit right in. But then he started talking about his skills.
"The name of the game for me is speed," Johnson said.
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That has most certainly not been the name of the game for the 2022 Giants.
Baseball Savant has had 504 players qualify for its sprint speed leaderboard this season and 10 players who have seen time in the Giants lineup rank in the bottom 100. For good reason, manager Gabe Kapler smiled when told of Johnson's remarks, saying he "fits in differently" than others.
That speed, developed when Johnson was a wide receiver in high school in Houston, has made him a plus defender in center field and that's why he's here. The Giants rank 29th in MLB in Defensive Runs Saved and their outfield defense was particularly poor in Tuesday night's loss.
Kapler had already made subtle changes, using more alignments of Mike Yastrzemski, Austin Slater and Luis Gonzalez instead of sticking a DH-type in left field. The Giants are trying to patch some defensive holes and help a good starting staff, but even the recent changes were not enough. So, it's Johnson's time.
"It's no secret that we've had our struggles defensively and some of those struggles have been in the outfield. Bryce's reputation is that he's a plus center field," Kapler said. "By having Bryce out there in center it allows Slater to slide to a corner and it just kind of makes the outfield collectively stronger. Our Major League field staff has also been thinking about this for some time. It just might make everybody else a little bit better to have that stability in center field.
"That doesn't mean that Bryce is going out there every single day to play center, but I think on a night like tonight he makes everyone around him better."
San Francisco Giants
Giants people who have seen Sacramento in recent weeks have raved about Johnson's defense and baserunning, and Kapler said the organization's player development staff "absolutely loves" Johnson and has been calling for the move for a while.
Of course, there's another part to the game, but the Giants are confident Johnson won't be overmatched at the plate. He's a natural right-handed hitter who picked up switch-hitting in college to take advantage of his speed, and he has a .273/.359/.374 slugging percentage in the minors since being taken in the sixth round in 2017.
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Johnson had a .283 average, five homers and three triples in Triple-A this season, with 24 stolen bases in 28 attempts. He has some development to do at the plate, but right now the biggest need at the big league level is defense, and Johnson brings it.
Johnson spent some time walking the outfield with first base/outfield coach Antoan Richardson during batting practice to better learn the dimensions. He said this will be his first time playing an outfield as spacious as Oracle Park's, but he's not intimidated.
"At least now when I'm out there I probably don't have to worry about the wall," he said. "I can just take off and go as far as I can."