SAN FRANCISCO -- Tyler Fitzgerald is more disciplined than the rest of us. He occasionally pulls up his Instagram account, but for the most part, Fitzgerald avoids all social media during the MLB season. That keeps the negative noise out, but also kept him from noting some of the cool things he did last summer.
When Fitzgerald did sit back and relax in the offseason, one post stood out. In the offseason, he saw an exclusive list of shortstops who have hit 11 homers in a 17-game span. He was right alongside Alex Rodriguez, Trea Turner and Troy Tulowitzki.
"That was probably the coolest one," he said. "And the Barry (Bonds) stuff was obviously incredible, too."
During an absurd hot streak that started July 9 and lasted about a month, Fitzgerald seemed to homer every single game, and every night there was a new note about the 27-year-old joining an elite club. When he went deep twice against the Colorado Rockies on a Friday night at Oracle Park, he became the first Giant since Bonds to hit seven home runs in eight games. A few days earlier, he had joined Bonds in homering in five consecutive games.
What followed was not a surprise. The league adjusted, and Fitzgerald hit just one homer over his final 36 games, with a .230 batting average. What did that latter stretch remind him?
"You never really have it figured out, and I knew that. It wasn't a shock to me," he said. "Baseball is such a crazy sport. I was on top of the world and then for a couple of weeks there I just felt like I couldn't hit the ball off a tee, which everybody goes through. You just kind of hate to finish that way. I really strive to have a better second half than I did."
It was a disappointing finish, but there was a silver lining in the sequence of events. Fitzgerald took off once the Giants finally ended the Nick Ahmed experiment, and that scorching first month made it pretty easy for the coaching staff to keep him in the lineup for the final six weeks as he worked on adjustments.
San Francisco Giants
Had the slump come first, Fitzgerald might have never gotten a chance to show the type of power hitter he can be at the big league level. But July and early August provided enough evidence for the Giants to feel comfortable sliding him over to second when they signed Willy Adames.
As the deal was being finalized, Buster Posey called Fitzgerald to let him know that he would be changing positions. He also told him that he had a lot of faith in his abilities and encouraged him to be aggressive in 2025 and have fun.
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"You just trust him. You trust his vision, you trust his experience, and obviously he knows how to win, so he's going to build a team that knows how to win," Fitzgerald said on Thursday's "Giants Talk" podcast. "Just hearing his transparency and where he sees me and his confidence in me is definitely incredible. It's new having this amount of transparency but it kind of puts your mind at ease a little bit."
The Giants made it clear early in the offseason that they viewed Fitzgerald as their second baseman, and potentially one of the best in the league. A stiff back has slowed him this week, but Bob Melvin continues to instill confidence. He said this week that the staff doesn't want to move Fitzgerald back over to short when Adames needs off days, because they saw what happened last year when they allowed him to focus on shortstop instead of being a super-utility guy.
The days of taking reps at first base or carrying an outfield glove are over, at least for now. The focus is on improving with runners in scoring position and mastering a position he played at times in the minors. Fitzgerald said he's particularly excited to work with former Giants second baseman Joe Panik, who will be in camp as a guest instructor.
The focus also is on doing what he does best. During an early workout, Posey watched young infielders run the bases on a back field and then walked up to Fitzgerald when he finished. "Speed kills," he said, smiling.
Fitzgerald was successful on 71 of 82 stolen base attempts in the minors after going 45-for-53 in college. He was tied for third in the Majors last season in sprint speed, right alongside Cincinnati Reds budding star Elly De La Cruz, who took off 83 times. Fitzgerald attempted just 21 stolen bases, but was successful 17 times.
With an everyday job, there's no reason why Fitzgerald should finish short of 30 stolen bases, and even that might be conservative. As the Giants look for ways they can gain a foothold in a very difficult division, this is an easy one. They have one of the fastest players in the league, and it's time to let him loose.
Fitzgerald might tune out the noise during the season, but he paid attention when Posey was hired in early October. He watched the initial press conference and listened to other interviews Posey gave. He heard the same things Posey has since told him in private.
Posey doesn't want his players worrying about failure, and Fitzgerald said hearing that "goes a long way." There were times last year when he didn't feel as much freedom on the dirt.
"It gives me a lot of confidence just to go out there and not worry about getting thrown out," he said. "If the time comes where I look up and I have 10 stolen bases and 10 times thrown out, then we'll have a different discussion. But especially early on in the season, I think having that confidence that, 'Hey, if I do get thrown out there, it's fine,' that'll definitely ease my mind a little bit."
