The Giants are releasing outfielder Luis González, tweets Robert Murray of FanSided. He’ll head directly to free agency. González had already been outrighted off the 40-man roster after clearing waivers last month.
The lefty-swinging outfielder hasn’t appeared in the majors this season. González began the year on the injured list after undergoing back surgery in Spring Training. He was sidelined into August and immediately optioned to Triple-A upon his return. A week thereafter, the Giants designated him for assignment.
González, who turned 28 over the weekend, hasn’t found much of a rhythm in Triple-A. He’d hit .255/.355/.362 over 110 plate appearances for San Francisco’s top affiliate. While that’s a respectable line on the surface, it’s well below-average by measure of wRC+ in the context of a hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. His 11.8% walk rate and 18.2% strikeout percentage were each strong, but González has connected on only one home run.
San Francisco evidently decided they wouldn’t call him back to the majors this season. He would’ve qualified for minor league free agency at year’s end. The Giants will cut him loose a few weeks early.
While González is likely to be limited to minor league offers, he’ll surely find interest as a depth option going into 2024. The former third-round pick looked the part of a solid rotational outfield piece a year ago. He got into 98 games and picked up 350 plate appearances for the Giants in 2022, hitting .254/.322/.360 with decent strikeout and walk numbers. He didn’t hit for much power, but he swiped 10 bases in 12 attempts.