Longoria doubles in return to lineup
PEORIA, Ariz. — With Opening Day two weeks away, manager Bruce Bochy finally has the option to play his entire lineup now that the last straggler, third baseman Evan Longoria, seems fine. Longoria missed a week with soreness in the back of his left ankle, near his heel, but returned against the Mariners on Wednesday night and played half the game. He got four innings in the field and batted three times.
He put his foot to the test immediately with a secondinning double off the wall in right-center and dashes to third and home on groundballs as he scored the first run in a 5-4 loss.
“My ankle feels pretty good,” Longoria said. “I don’t think it’s going to be an issue moving forward. I didn’t feel any different than just standing around.”
The bigger issue is Longoria’s timing, which he said “needs a little work,” understandable after missing a week.
“That just comes with atbats,” he said. “The more I start to pile them up and have atbats in back-to-back days, it’ll start to click.”
Longoria has 17 at-bats and thinks he comfortably could start the season with 40. So expect to see him in the lineup a lot in coming days, starting Thursday night if he feels good in the morning.
Cueto and the kid: A small set of bleachers behind home plate of Field 2 at the Giants’ minorleague complex fills with players, coaches and executives for games. On Wednesday, “opening day” for the minor-league games, general manager Bobby Evans and other evaluators who were there to see Johnny
Cueto throw had their head on a swivel watching the Field 1 game, too.
On that field, 2017 firstround draft pick Heliot Ramos and second-rounder Jacob Gonzalez, son of Luis, batted second and third, respectively, in a low Class A game.
Both showed the right-handed swings that propelled them from high school — Ramos in Puerto Rico, Gonzalez in Arizona — to the high hopes (and signing bonuses) of the organization.
Each hit a double against the Indians, Ramos after striking out twice. Remember, he is 18 and was playing against college signees. Ramos also threw out a runner at third from center field, with Gonzalez applying the tag.
On the other field, Cueto threw 70 pitches against high Class A competition so he would not face the Mariners twice in six nights. They will see him at AT&T Park in the home-opening series.
Cueto allowed no runs and two hits in the equivalent of four innings. (Innings are routinely stopped when a pitch count is reached.) He threw in the high-80s but said his main purpose was refining his breaking pitches and myriad deliveries.
Some of the Cleveland prospects he faced were cocky, making Cueto smile by saying, “We’re going to get you. We’re going to hit you.”
Cueto is one start behind his rotation mates because he began throwing a few days after them, but believes he is close to being on target for his March 30 regular-season debut at Dodger Stadium.
“I have some more outings,” he said. “I hope to get to 90 pitches and hopefully I’ll be ready to go.” Mark Melancon also pitched in the game to ensure he could stretch to 20 pitches regardless of how many hitters he faced or outs he got. He allowed a hit and walk and struck out two, with no runs.
Dyson’s struggles: Reliever Sam Dyson continues to struggle as he tries to rediscover his sinker. He allowed the tying and go-ahead runs in the eighth inning of the big-league club’s loss, to raise his ERA to 13.50.
“Just give him a couple more outings here,” Bochy said. “I think the stuff is coming. From where he started, his velocity has picked up. I’ve always said this is the toughest place for a sinkerballer. It would be nice for him to have a clean outing.”