Both teams just hoping to avoid further injuries with 1 exhibition left
The Giants and A’s made it through another day without losing a starting pitcher, and that’s always a good thing.
Derek Holland and Daniel Mengden had their final spring training tune-ups in Monday night’s 9-2, 10-inning A’s victory at AT&T Park, and both pitchers seemed to come out fine.
One exhibition remains, Tuesday’s Bay Bridge Series finale, and neither team can afford further damage to its rotation.
“That’s one area we’re maybe not as apt to handle,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said, “so that’s why these last couple of games, you just want to bubble-wrap these guys and hope nothing happens, and you begin the season with no more injuries.”
It’s no laughing matter. The A’s are without Jharel Cotton (Tommy John surgery) and Paul Blackburn (forearm strain) as well as top pros-
pect A.J. Puk (biceps soreness), while the Giants are down Madison Bumgarer (broken bone in his hand) and Jeff Samardzija (strained pectoral muscle).
Holland and Mengden are their teams’ No. 3 starters and will make their season debuts on Saturday, Holland at Dodger Stadium and Mengden against the Angels at the Coliseum.
“The injuries are the worst part,” Holland said after throwing 70 pitches in five innings and yielding solo homers to Matt Chapman and Mark Canha. “That’s something that we don’t ever want to see.”
Long before the A’s scored seven 10th-inning runs off minor-leaguer D.J. Snelten, Mengden pitched three innings and gave up one run on Buster Posey’s double and Hunter Pence’s single. Mengden came in with a restricted pitch count and finished at 54.
“Injuries will happen all throughout the season, position guys and pitchers,” Mengden said. “We can’t look at it that way. We have a really good staff, a really good, young staff.”
Both teams have their rotations set, as unexpected as they might be, and have a good idea about their bullpens. They know their infield, catchers and corner outfielders.
That leaves questions to be answered in center field, for both teams.
The Giants must announce the fate of Steven Duggar, the talented prospect who will either platoon in center with Austin Jackson or open the season at Triple-A Sacramento, where he’d play every day.
Gorkys Hernandez, who’s out of options, and Gregor Blanco are in the mix, too.
“Duggy’s done a nice job, handled himself on both sides of the plate,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “There’s nothing he can do now. We’ve got to make a decision here soon.
“I talked to him before spring training and just told him the situation, and he went out there and did what he needed to do, and that’s play good baseball. Now we’ve got to make a call.”
The A’s need to make a call on their own center-field platoon, especially with Dustin Fowler and Boog Powell, both of whom swing left-handed. The winner presumably will share duties with Jake Smolinski, though Melvin counts Canha (four hits) as an outfield candidate.
“We feel great about Boog. We feel great about Fowler,” Melvin said. “It’s going to be a difficult decision in the end.”
The A’s plan to platoon Matt Joyce and Chad Pinder in left field, and right field belongs to Stephen Piscotty.
For the Giants, Pence has moved to left field, yielding to new right fielder Andrew McCutchen. Both were at their respective corners Monday night, and Pence made a nice sliding catch to take a hit from Bruce Maxwell.
“Wish we had a day game here (in the Bay Bridge Series) so they could have at least one day game,” Bochy said. “It’s a different configuration, it takes a little bit of time to know all the different quirks of that outfield. They’re professionals, and they’ll be fine.”