San Francisco Giants Outfielder Could Appear At First Base This Season

For the first time in 13 years, Brandon Belt will not be the San Francisco Giants' first baseman heading into the season. He's north of the border, having signed on with the Toronto Blue Jays.

And it sounds like the first base situation will be somewhat of a patchwork in 2023. Lamont Wade Jr. is set to be the starter, but he only played 22 games at the position last year, and only 58 in his career. Backups could be Wilmer Flores, J.D. Davis and David Villar, all of whom bat right-handed.

Which is why left-handed hitting Joc Pederson, an outfielder by trade, is over at the first base bag taking grounders this spring. He could be needed in a pinch.

"It would be great if Joc was capable enough if [there were a need] that he could be serviceable over there," manager Gabe Kapler told NBC Sports' Alex Pavlovic. "Obviously he can really bang, and if he got comfortable enough over there, this guy is a wide receiver, he's a hand-eye coordination beast, so he can do it. But we have to put the work in to get him ready for it."

"First base will take priority now, just because I'm unfamiliar with first base and if they were to say go play first base in a game, it would feel uncomfortable," Pederson said. "If they were to say go play outfield, I'd feel perfectly fine. I think it's something I was going to have to learn at some time in my career."

However, not that the rival Los Angeles Dodgers would offer the Giants any helpful advice, but if they were willing to, they might tell them that the Pederson at first base thing doesn't really work so well.

The Dodgers tried moving Joc Pederson to first base midseason in 2019 after having never played the position. The experiment lasted six weeks. It didn't go well.https://t.co/vYfpRUPPBK https://t.co/KSrgKdj8XJ

— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) February 17, 2023

Pederson played 20 games in the 2019 season at first with the Dodgers, and made six errors. It was a bumpy ride.

"Obviously I did it with the Dodgers for about a month and it did not go well at all. To get in some game experience that's not in the big leagues where you're trying to win and the stressors of that, I think this is a good time to learn. I think it's cool to use some spring training innings to get experience."

Photo: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports