Giants manager Bruce Bochy and his assistant hitting coach Rick Schu disagree on comparisons. Bochy sees Steve Finley, Schu sees a a current outfielder who racked up accolades this season.
Steven Duggar, the Giants smooth center fielder who recently turned 25 years old, fits the mold of both players with his superb defense and left-handed stroke. When Duggar arrived in San Francisco from Triple-A Sacramento on July 8 though, Schu knew changes need to be made to get the prospect into the veteran he could see.
"The biggest word I can use is aptitude," Schu said Thursday night on KNBR when asked about Duggar. "He came up coming off 100-something strikeouts in Triple-A. He's coming up to the big leagues striking out with a big leg kick, kind of gliding into path. That's not gonna work.
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"I was like dude, 'You're gonna make a living putting that ball in play. You need to simplify, put barrel to the ball. Who you need to see is Nick Markakis.'"
[PAVLOVIC: Giants believe Steven Duggar could end long-running center field saga]
Markakis, who turns 10 years older than Duggar on Saturday, is coming off his first All-Star campaign. Helping lead the Braves to the playoffs for the first time since 2013, Markakis slashed .297/.366/.440 with 14 home runs and 43 doubles. The numbers resulted in his first Silver Slugger.
The comparison of the two, just like glimpses of Finley, makes plenty of sense.
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Both outfielders are known more for their glove than their bat despite their offense being far from a detriment to the team. They also have similar lanky, yet muscular builds. Markakis stands 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds while Duggar is one inch taller and 189 pounds with room to fill in more weight as he matures. At the plate, the left-handers even have similar upright stances with their knees slightly bent.
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"I sent him video of Nick and I go, 'This is who you are. Modify your leg kick, have a two-strike approach, put the ball forward and you'll have success.' And then he was hummin'. I was so fired up, it was really exciting," Schu said.
But then Duggar's season came to an end on August 29 with a torn labrum in his left shoulder from diving back into second base. He slashed .255/.303/.390 with two home runs and 11 doubles. As he gets more at-bats under him in the big leagues, Schu believes Duggar's power will blossom.
"He's got some pop in his bat too," Schu said. "And like I say with aptitude. Just the adjustments he made at the big-league level. What he brought to the table wasn't gonna work up here, so he made some adjustments, simplified things and he was able to take it into the games. It was huge."
No matter if his future is that of Finley or Markakis, the Giants couldn't be any more enthused with what's next for Steven Duggar.