Can Grant McCray carve out role in SF Giants’ outfield in 2025?

SAN DIEGO — All eyes are on the Giants’ contingent of young players this September as they attempt to carve out roles for next season.

And if you ask Grant McCray, good thing folks are watching.

McCray, 23, started the season in Double-A and didn’t reach Triple-A until the middle of June, but in 19 games since getting the call to the bigs, his combination of power and athleticism has made a strong case for him to be a mainstay in the major-league outfield, or at least have a leg up in the crowded competition entering next spring.

McCray provided an immediate answer to the Padres’ two-run first with a three-run blast in his first at-bat Saturday night against Dylan Cease, then padded the Giants’ lead with a two-run number in the top of the ninth. Behind Logan Webb’s 19th quality start of the season, that was more than enough to deliver the Giants (70-73) only their second win, 6-3, in seven games since the calendar turned to September.

Measured at 419 feet to right field, McCray’s first homer was a no-doubter, and he topped it with his second blast — measured at 425 feet — which came against San Diego’s left-handed reliever Yuki Matsui, to boot. It gave him five homers since he was called up August 14, putting him on a 42-homer pace over 162 games, a figure no Giants hitter has come close to since Barry Bonds.

Through 19 games, McCray is batting .262 with an .863 OPS and a triple and three doubles to go with his five home runs — a .569 slugging percentage that would be higher than any number he posted in four-and-a-half minor-league seasons.

The towering blast came a day after McCray contributed two of their six hits in Friday’s loss, and his speed alone could have given him another multi-hit game had the Giants not lost their challenge on the second play of the game. He was called out on two bang-bang plays at first that weren’t reviewable, grounding into a bases-loaded double play in the fourth that drove home the Giants’ fourth run of the game and nearly winning the race on a drag bunt in the seventh.

Defensively, McCray plays with the same tenacity that led his father, Rodney, to run through a wall attempting to make a catch during his brief big-league career. A natural center fielder with the speed and instincts to handle the position, McCray has already dazzled with a handful of diving catches.

That said, the Giants have $113 million tied up in a player they signed last winter to be their center fielder of the future.

The brief look the organization got at Jung Hoo Lee before his season-ending injury gave them enough confidence that he can handle the position long-term, allowing Melvin to dream about an outfield alignment of Heliot Ramos — who celebrated his 25th birthday — in left, Lee in center and McCray in right.

“It’s exciting — and athletic,” Melvin said. “I think in our ballpark, that’s really going to play. I think that’s something we need to look at a little bit harder, is how games are played in our ballpark. Maybe we need a little bit more athleticism in different ways, to score, on defense. I think that’s exciting to look at.”

Webb allowed the Padres to load the bases and open a 2-0 lead in the first inning but recovered to complete six innings on 84 pitches while allowing only one more run to cross. The three runs were the fewest Webb has allowed since August 21, while the six frames increased his total this season to a league-leading 189⅔.

With one starter already likely done for the year in Kyle Harrison and Webb shouldering one of the league’s largest workloads for a third consecutive season, there’s been no discussion of telling him to wrap it up early and focus on next year. His 19 quality starts are tied for fifth in the majors and behind only Zack Wheeler (22) in the NL.