This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado's Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
SAN FRANCISCO -- On Instagram, Drew Gilbert is known as @chillygoobear. But in the Giants’ dugout, the rookie outfielder is anything but.
Gilbert has made his social media handle feel like a misnomer by bringing a fiery, goofball presence to the Giants, who can’t get enough of the 24-year-old’s unique jolt of energy.
He’s got a running gag -- literally -- with Matt Chapman. He’s mauled the sleeve of Robbie Ray’s hoodie like a mischievous puppy. He went bananas on the dugout railing after watching Wilmer Flores go deep at Petco Park.
He’s suddenly become the most entertaining player on a club that has improbably surged back into the National League Wild Card race after winning 13 of its past 16 games.
“The guys are feeding off each other. There’s a ton of energy in the dugout, mainly from Drew Gilbert,” Logan Webb said. “It’s a sparkplug. He’s actually a really good player to go along with the energy. It’s fun to see.”
“It’s just energy,” Willy Adames said. “He’s an energetic guy. I feel like we needed something like that. He brought that energy, and the boys are embracing it.”
Gilbert’s exuberance is so off the charts that he seems to be threatening to displace the charismatic Adames as the Giants’ No. 1 hype man. Not that it’s a competition. When Adames launched a three-run homer to put the Giants on the board in the first inning on Tuesday night, Gilbert quickly climbed over the railing to ensure that he could be the one to perform the helmet-lifting honors once Adames returned to the dugout.
"I think it’s just something that happens organically," Gilbert said of his crazy celebrations. "You don’t want it to be forced or anything. It’s not something I consciously wake up and say, 'Let's do this.' It’s part of the key to the moment, right? Your emotions of a game, playing in front of a big crowd. It’s the big leagues, so everything is a little bit more energetic than like a high school game. You just kind of feed off the crowd or wherever the environment is. You kind of want it to be like a party in the dugout. Everybody wants to join in at that point, so it’s fun."
Big league clubhouses haven’t always been the most welcoming spaces for rookies, but the Giants’ veterans have encouraged Gilbert to let loose and be himself, especially now that the team is vibing amid the renewed playoff push.
“We love Drew,” Ray said. “We know who he is. He brings the energy each and every night. It’s fun. It’s contagious. He’s loud in the dugout. He’s loud in the clubhouse. We don’t want him to change. We want him to be exactly who he is.”
Has Ray ever been chewed on by another teammate?
“That’s never happened,” Ray said, smiling. “But I’ve got four kids, so I’m used to it.”
It’s certainly been an eventful month for Gilbert, who was acquired from the Mets as part of the Tyler Rogers trade on July 30. The 2022 first-round Draft pick made his Major League debut nine days later, though he got off to a little bit of a slow start, going only 5-for-37 (.135) with one home run over his first 16 games for the Giants.
Still, San Francisco's No. 8 prospect has elite contact skills that are starting to show up now that he’s beginning to settle into a platoon role with Luis Matos in right field. Over his past nine games, the left-handed-hitting Gilbert is 10-for-28 (.357) with two homers, two doubles and a triple, which has helped bring out more of his infectious personality.
“I think my situation was a tad bit unique just because I had just gotten traded,” Gilbert said. “I quite literally didn’t know anybody, even on a surface level. I think it took probably a couple of weeks to just get to know guys in any sort of relative form. But after that, you know how it is. You’re spending eight hours-plus a day with guys. Two straight weeks, and you start to get to know guys pretty well after that. Just getting comfortable with them, and them getting comfortable with me, makes it pretty easy. Honestly, they've helped a lot with that.”
Gilbert’s viral antics have already made him a fan favorite in San Francisco, where he’s quickly become one of the faces of the club’s unexpected turnaround.
“It’s always been a close team, but now you’ve got a very exuberant kid who’s so happy to be in the big leagues,” manager Bob Melvin said. “He’s enamored with the whole thing. He’s not lost that he’s in the big leagues now. He’s playing with guys like Rafael Devers. He embraces it, yet he finds a way to go out there and play well during the game, too.
"It is a different type of energy in our dugout now with him.”