“There’s a lot of power there, you could see that,” Melvin said. “He came out like that, got through a bad game and then came back and kept his head. We never thought he’d be here this season as a young player. Maybe next year. Everyone likes his (player) development, but it was so impressive.”

Melvin likes that McCray brings a different dynamic with his outstanding athleticism. He’s a total hitter and as good as anyone the Giants have in center field, including Jung Hoo Lee. He also has a strong arm and it’s easy to dream of him playing right field one day while Lee plays center. Remember Matt Cain’s perfect game? That’s exactly what the Giants had that night with Angel Pagan and Gregor Blanco.

McCray sees himself as a center fielder, but Lee is under contract until 2029 and came to San Francisco to play center. If McCray is successful, the Giants will have a nice problem or perhaps a solution to a years-long deficit in athleticism.

“I’ve told a lot of people that if me and Jung Hoo are in the same outfield, it’s going to be a bad day for anyone else who comes to our ballpark or for us who come to theirs,” McCray said. “They’re going to want to hit a lot of ground balls.”

At the very least, McCray is a good late-inning defensive option in 2025. But if he can reduce the strikeouts, the Giants may have another young player ready to secure an everyday job. Melvin compared McCray to Heliot Ramos and Tyler Fitzgerald, both of whom will be starters next season.

McCray’s situation is more complicated. Ramos was set to start in left field in 2025, but the Giants have Mike Yastrzemski under control for another season and the veteran was an above-average hitter and provided top-notch defense in right field.

Maybe the solution is “everyone,” which is what Melvin seemed to imply before the game when he talked about the Giants needing to take a closer look at “how the games are played in our stadium.” He watched from the other side in San Diego as the Giants seemingly gave up on defending the outfield for a while.

Without Lee, Melvin McCray will continue to play center for the rest of the year, and the young outfielder said he tries to do his best every chance he gets. On Saturday, that meant hitting 255 yards of home runs for a young outfielder weighing in at 190 pounds.

Of McCray’s five home runs, three were at least 415 feet. Where does all that power come from?

“Shooting, I don’t know,” McCray said. “You tell me. I don’t know, man. I was never really a power hitter until a couple years ago. It’s all in the hips, all in the hips, I guess. The ball just bounces, man.”

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