The San Francisco Giants completed their first series sweep of the season Monday, an effort months in the making. They did it with the help of their young outfielders, most of whom weren’t even on the active roster when the first two games against Atlanta were played back in June. Turner Hill contributed a crucial pinch-hit double and Jonah Cox had an RBI bunt single and a solo home run, which is a beautiful collection of baseball words.There was a fascinating twist to the Hill double. He was pinch-hitting for Drew Gilbert against a left-handed reliever — a rare LHB-for-LHB swap — and the move might have been the difference in the game. Hill has struggled against lefties in the minors this year, but he also put the ball in play a lot, walking more than he struck out against them.Gilbert’s continued struggles against lefties have been well documented — he’s now 2-for-41 against them, which is historically awful — but he has hit right-handers so well that he’s also been a part of many recent Giants wins. The good news is that the solution isn’t to platoon him with another lefty like Hill, but with a right-handed hitter who can hit long, long home runs. That could be Cox, but it could also be Victor Bericoto, who has hit two of the Giants’ 10-longest home runs this season. Both came off the bat at 108.7 mph and traveled 445 feet, which is impressive and weird.Jonah Cox has been a revelation at the plate and on the bases. (Dustin Bradford / Getty Images)We’re at the “but wait, there’s more” part of the infomercial now, because in the minor leagues the Giants have two different outfielders who are thriving after a promotion to Triple A: Bo Davidson and Scott Bandura. The former is tied for first in the Giants’ farm system in home runs, and the latter is yet another bat-control wizard who runs well and has hit for average everywhere he’s gone. And it’s not a matter of if they’re going to be added to the 40-man roster, but when: It’ll have to be before the Rule 5 draft roster protection deadline in November. So, they might as well get a look before the season ends, right?Not necessarily. It’s probably more valuable for the Giants to get more first-hand information on Hill, Cox and Gilbert right now, and it’s also probably more valuable for them to see major-league pitching, especially if they’re more likely to factor into the offseason roster plans. So while Davidson and Bandura have earned their major-league debuts, and there isn’t any question about them making the 40-man roster soon, the Giants’ outfield is crowded. It’s a good problem to have, especially for a team that has specialized in what you might consider “bad” problems to have, but distributing at-bats is already a serious consideration for the Giants. Two more outfielders would make the job exponentially more difficult, even if they’re exciting, deserving and soon to be on the 40-man roster anyway.Some of you are yelling at me that I’m forgetting a young outfielder, which is true. Grant McCray has made enough adjustments to his game to merit a longer look, but he sure picked the wrong season to do it.
The Giants have too many outfielders, which is a good problem to have
The Giants realistically have seven outfielders between Triple A and the big leagues who could get at-bats for them next season.








