Sporting Green // San Francisco Giants

Giants have several solid options if MLB makes the DH universal in 2020

Giants fans in 2002 who remember (or choose to forget) the 2002 World Series against the Angels knew that manager Dusty Baker was disadvantaged in the four games at Anaheim because he did not have a true designated hitter.

In Game 1, Baker picked Tsuyoshi Shinjo, who might have been the club’s best choice for designated fielder or designated fashionista, but at the plate was a .238 hitter with a .370 slugging percentage.

Pedro Feliz was the DH in another game, and Shawon Dunston in his final big-league season did it twice. In all four games, the DH batted ninth, which is not ideal.

Fortunately for 2020 manager Gabe Kapler, the Giants will have better options if and when baseball returns, and expanded rosters and a universal DH are all but certain to occur.

Kapler’s two seasons in Philadelphia offer a narrow glimpse into how he might use it. In a small sample size, Rhys Hoskins (six) and Jay Bruce (three) were the DH in nearly half of the Phillies’ 20 games in American League parks.

Hoskins is at best an average defender in the outfield and at first base, but he has pop, and Bruce at 32 was not the outfielder he once was.

So Kapler used the DH to keep good bats in the lineup while making his defense better, which for nearly half a century has been the main consideration not only for employing the DH, but in signing older all-hit, no-glove players.

However, myriad factors could be in play with the Giants if Kapler can select a DH for all 82 games the league hopes to play.

Here is one writer’s list of which Giants might benefit most from a universal DH in 2020, in descending order of how many games they might be used as such:

Pablo Sandoval: Unlike Hoskins or Bruce, Sandoval can still pick it at third base even if he lacks the range of his younger self, but regular third baseman Evan Longoria is a better defender.

By an early July Opening Day, Sandoval’s right arm should be fully healed after Tommy John surgery, and he would provide Kapler a dangerous left-handed bat in the middle of the lineup whether he played the field or not.

Buster Posey: Another case where defense is not the driving impetus. Posey remains one of the majors’ best receivers, thinkers, strike-stealers and throwers behind the plate.

But keeping Posey in the lineup while also getting him out of the crouch and not sticking him at first base would be a huge boon for Kapler. That also leads to …

Joey Bart: President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi made it clear over the winter and during spring training that Bart needed to return to the minors to gain more catching experience and get the at-bats he lost when he sustained fractures to each hand/wrist caused by errant pitches.

But what if, as seems likely, there are no minor leagues in 2020? Do the Giants and Bart benefit more from having him catch in camp games in Arizona or letting him apprentice in the majors without the pressure of learning to hit big-league pitching and catch the staff.

Expanded rosters could provide the Giants a best-of-both-worlds option that has Posey and Bart both in the lineup.

Alex Dickerson: Like Sandoval and Posey, Dickerson would give Kapler a middle-order bat as DH and help preserve his back and core muscles for 2021, when the DH presumably goes away in the NL and he has to play left field to stay in the lineup.

Hunter Pence: The Reverend is 37 and, sad to say, would be the least effective outfielder in any configuration Kapler could create. He was the DH in 46 of his 69 starts for the Rangers in 2019. When Posey needs a full game off, and the Giants are facing a lefty, sic Pence on the pitcher.

He destroyed lefties last year (1.015 OPS), the main reason the Giants signed him.

Darin Ruf: Coming off three seasons in Korea that yielded 86 home runs, the 33-year-old was on the verge of making the team when baseball was halted. He hit five doubles, a triple and three homers in 28 Cactus League at-bats.

The problem would be finding enough DH at-bats from the many right-handed candidates. But any option that allows some combination of Mike Yastrzemski, Billy Hamilton, Jaylin Davis and Steven Duggar in the outfield, assuming Duggar is recalled from the minors, would create a more formidable outfield defense.

Longoria/Brandon Crawford/Brandon Belt: Face it. They’re older and could use more rest. Sandoval and Wilmer Flores would be good alternatives to play the infield corners if Longoria or Belt sit. Mauricio Dubon or Donovan Solano (if he makes the team) could play short.

Henry Schulman covers the Giants for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: Twitter: @hankschulman