Former productive Guardians outfielder struggling in new home with Giants 

At one point in time, Will Brennan looked like a future star in the Guardians’ outfield. 

He made his big league debut for the Guardians late in the 2022 season and ended up earning a spot on the team’s postseason roster after an electric showing in September. 

But that was followed by a slow decline in play that reached a fever pitch last season when he only played six big league games before suffering a season-ending injury. 

That injury brought about the end of his time on the Guardians’ roster via an offseason non-tender, but he was able to land on his feet thanks to a one-year contract with the San Francisco Giants. 

And although the Giants added him to their big league roster two weeks ago in response to Harrison Bader going on the injured list, he’s gone 0-for-7 in the three games he’s played with the Giants and has largely been a non-factor. 

Brennan’s struggles over the past couple seasons have come as a bit of a surprise given how stellar the start to his career was.

After spending almost all of 2022 in the minor leagues, the Guardians called him up in the penultimate week of the regular season, and he responded by slashing .357/.400/.500 in 11 games while adding a double, triple, home run and eight RBI. 

It was him at his best, as he was using his 80-grade contact skills to slap the ball all over the field. 

He followed that up by playing in a career-high 138 games in 2023, though the results were a bit mixed. While he recorded a .266 batting average on the back of 115 hits, he had an on-base percentage of .297 and only barreled 2.4% of the balls he put in play. 

Will Brennan’s struggles have followed him to the West Coast 

That’s become the story of his career. He’s never struggled with his control of the strike zone and ability to put the ball in play, but he’s provided next-to-no pop while not walking enough. 

After playing in 114 games last season, Brennan only managed to make it into six games for the Guardians last season and went 1-for-11 before undergoing season-ending UCL surgery. 

He started the season with San Francisco’s Triple-A club, but got the call after he hit .392 through his first 11 minor league games. 

The early returns of that call-up haven’t been great, however, as he’s gone hitless in the three games he’s played in. Although he’s only struck out once (which has never been a problem for him), he has yet to put a ball in play that’s traveled more than 100 feet or left his bat at 100+ miles per hour. 

While Brennan should still get a variety of chances in San Francisco since the Giants are still finding their rhythm under new manager Tony Vitello while also navigating a variety of outfield injuries, he hasn’t done a great job making a good first impression in the bay area.

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