Fungo golf for Giants pitchers; fans for MLB spring games
Right-hander Kevin Gausman’s impressive day at spring training had nothing to do with any of the usual statistics, like strikeouts or innings pitched. Nope. He dominated Fungo golf. Batting practice for San Francisco’s pitchers took on a non-traditional look Thursday at Scottsdale Stadium in Arizona.
“We played a little game of Fungo golf with the pitchers just to get them swinging the bats a little bit, just kind of ramping up very, very slowly the intensity and the feeling of having a bat in their hands and finding the sweet spot,” manager Gabe Kapler said of the lighter training bats called Fungos, which players hit toward targets the same way coaches hit infield practice.
“So that was a lot of fun. We hit balls and chased them around the diamond. It’s just a unique and fun way to practice something.”
There was no need to hush the crowd, since no fans were surrounding the Giants’ diamond course. But the stands won’t be empty — or full — when the Giants host their spring training opener Sunday.
Fans will be able to attend all games in Arizona and Florida that are played in the 23 spring training ballparks — seven of those stadiums host two teams. While there are wide variations depending on local ordinances, the average limited capacity will be about 20% — or about 2,000 fans. There will be mask requirements, and tickets will be sold in pods to facilitate social distancing between unrelated groups.
Scottsdale Stadium will have the lowest capacity at 9%, which is about 1,000 fans for Giants home games. The largest allowed capacity is 28% for the New York Yankees in Tampa Bay (about 2,642 fans), and the Minnesota Twins in Fort Myers, Florida (about 2,435 fans).
“I think that’s actually going to be a very under-the-radar but very important thing for our guys,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. “I’ve been very open about comments that I’ve heard from all of our players throughout our clubhouse about just how much better it is to play baseball in front of a stadium, in front of a group of fans, in front of people pulling for you.
“I talk about the energy level, I talk about guys’ ability to focus and just like pure enjoyment, that level goes way up when you get thousands of people enjoying themselves and are there supporting you. So our guys are ready.”