Giants: Madison Bumgarner to start opener.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Not that there was any doubt, but
Madison Bumgarner will be the Opening Day starter for the fourth straight year. The Giants play the Diamondbacks in Phoenix on April 2.
Johnny Cueto is in line to pitch the next game, two days later. Manager Bruce Bochy arranged his spring training rotation so that Cueto, who’ll make his first Cactus League start Saturday at Scottsdale Stadium, follows Bumgarner.
Bumgarner made his fourth start Friday and gave up two unearned runs in four innings in the Giants’ 7-6 loss to Cleveland. Cueto will pitch no more than two innings Saturday.
“He’s got time to get ready,” Bochy said of Cueto, who was late to training camp because he was with his ill father but threw batting practice in the Dominican Republican. He also threw 65 pitches on a back field Wednesday.
Meantime, Bumgarner likes his progression. He has added an inning to every start and got a lot of work out of the stretch because the leadoff man reached base in his first two innings.
“It’s good I got to get a lot of work from the stretch today,” Bumgarner said. “I got to be a little familiar with that position.”
Two outs into Bumgarner’s final inning, third baseman
Gordon Beckham made a fielding error, and Bradley
Zimmer hit a blooper to leftcenter that fell in front of a diving Mac Williamson.
Zimmer got a run-scoring double and scored on Nellie
Rodriguez’s single. Bumgarner will bat for the first time this spring in his next start.
WBC update: Mark Melancon and Jeff Samardzija will be added to the secondround player pool if Team USA advances past the opening round. The roster is chosen from the player pool, and there were no guarantees either Giants pitcher would be selected.
“I would really be interested in going,” Melancon said. “I’m just very thankful the Giants support me and understand the opportunity to represent my country in a Classic that’s already exciting.”
Bumgarner was asked to play in the WBC and declined. He’s not ruling out future WBCs.
“I’d love to do it. It’s tough,” he said. “Obviously, our main concern is here. It’s a long year. and I think (participating in the WBC) is a little tougher for their pitchers. I mean, it’s tough on anybody, but I feel it’s an easier transition on position players.”
Coach improving: One after another, players and coaches walked by Jose Alguacil in the Giants’ clubhouse to greet the first-base coach and wish him well.
“I feel great. I mean it. I feel really, really good,” Alguacil said six days after he underwent surgery at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix to fix a broken nose and close a laceration on the left side of his face.
Alguacil, 44, also suffered fractures of the eye socket when hit by a ball at Surprise Stadium, the result of a check swing by Kansas City’s Hunter
Dozier. Alguacil was sitting on a folding chair alongside Bochy and other coaches, including 83-year-old Joey Amalfitano.
He said he never lost consciousness but is being treated for a possible concussion. Swelling is down around the redness in his left eye. He could be back on the job in a week and perhaps wear a mask.
“When I went down,” Alguacil said, “that was the first thing I said: ‘Thank God it was me and not Joey or Bruce.’ ”
Alguacil is sensitive to sunlight and bright indoor lights and was to see a doctor Friday.