In their home opener, the San Francisco Giants managed just five hits in a 3-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Friday.
SAN FRANCISCO -- LaMonte Wade Jr.'s fly ball in the bottom of the fifth inning Friday left the bat at 100 mph and traveled 386 feet. It was the type of swing that often results in a triple in this ballpark, but Kansas City Royals center fielder Kyle Isbel was positioned perfectly.
Isbel also was positioned very weirdly.
There are no infield shifts this year and moving forward, but the Royals got creative in their 3-1 win Friday, using right fielder MJ Melendez as a "shifted" second baseman at times and playing a two-man outfield. They used the alignment against Giants left-handed hitters and didn't get burned, with none of them hitting a ball to a vacated right field or huge gap in center.
"Everybody noticed it. I don't think it's been deployed all that often across the league so far this year," manager Gabe Kapler said. "I think part of it probably has to do with the short right field in our ballpark and feeling like they can cover a lot of ground that way. Obviously they're taking risks leaving the middle of the field exposed, but I don't blame them for taking liberties like that. I think it makes some sense."
Perhaps the bigger surprise was that the Giants were not the team to unveil something unusual this time, but the Royals clearly felt it was giving them an edge. Given the dimensions of Oracle Park, the speedy Melendez likely could have gotten back in time to limit any hitter to a double if he put one over his head. There were gaps in the outfield, but the Giants didn't find them.
Center fielder Mike Yastrzemski was shifted as often as any Giants hitter last year but the Royals played him straight-up. Yastrzemski said he didn't notice the weird shift until Wade flied out to deep right-center.
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"I thought for sure that was a knock," he said.
There were no odd shifts from either side on the six-game road trip, but the Royals had this planned out and didn't pay for it in a 3-1 win. Yastrzemski felt the strategy wouldn't last long, noting that a ball that drops in the right spot in dead center would allow a baserunner to go for three.
"I think that's an interesting way to play it," Yastrzemski said. "I don't foresee it happening for a long time once teams get beat a few times."
The strategy is one teams anticipated when new rules were put into place limiting infield shifts, and it was tried a few times around baseball in the spring. The Giants have talked through all sorts of different ways to take advantage of the new rules, but so far have played it straight. Kapler said the staff will continue to talk about whether a similar shift makes sense for the Giants at some point.
The Royals certainly felt more comfortable doing it with plus defender Jackie Bradley Jr. in left field. The Giants have a similar option in rookie Bryce Johnson, who could cover a lot of ground if another outfielder is put closer to the infield.
"It depends who our outfield defense is. If we feel like we have somebody that can go over and handle that side of the field, we may consider it," he said. "We've looked at a lot of hitters around the league. We don't have any surefire guys that we want to do that with yet, but we won't close any doors. We'll stay open to all possibilities."
--- There was no update on Roberto Pérez after the game, but the catcher certainly looks headed for the IL with a shoulder injury. Kapler said the staff would discuss options. With Joey Bart on the IL and not eligible to return until Monday at the earliest, the Giants don't have many.
Austin Wynns is their lead catcher in Triple-A and was a big part of last year's team, but he's not on the 40-man roster. The Giants could add him on Saturday, but that would lead to a cut elsewhere that they didn't anticipate.
Gary Sanchez has been working out at the minor league facility in Scottsdale but hasn't joined Triple-A Sacramento yet and hasn't played in a real game since representing the Dominican Republic behind the plate on March 14. It would be asking a lot to throw him back there, but the Giants may feel they have no choice.
They likely have to add Sanchez to the 40-man in the coming days anyway, since he has an opt-out by May 1 and they want to take a look at him. They could add Wynns short-term and then DFA him once Bart and Sanchez are options, but that would expose him to waivers, which wouldn't be ideal given the lack of catching depth in general.
In the meantime, Blake Sabol will almost certainly catch Sean Manaea on Saturday. They would be the first all-Samoan battery in MLB history.
RELATED: Giants frustrated by missed ninth-inning call in loss to Royals
--- The biggest ovation during pregame introductions went to Brandon Crawford, but an opponent was definitely in the top five, if not the top three. Matt Duffy got a big reaction when he was introduced in his first start at Oracle Park since an infamous 2016 trade.
There aren't many Giants who made that kind of impact on the fan base in just a couple of seasons. Duffy was 1-for-3 in the game and might have saved it with a diving grab in the ninth.
