Outfielders not exactly tearing it up in spring camp

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. » Manager Bruce Bochy insists the Giants aren’t focused on the batting averages of those competing for jobs this spring and instead evaluating the quality of a player’s plate appearances.

That’s great news for many of the roster hopefuls because the stat lines from Cactus League play aren’t exactly encouraging.

“You just look at the quality of the at-bats, the swings they’re getting off,” Bochy said. “With some of them, I think you see them picking up.

fter the first three weeks of spring games, there was nowhere to go but up for several players competing for roles, particularly in a wideopen race for outfield jobs. Non-roster invitee Cameron Maybin began the spring 0 for 17 while Mac Williamson, who is out of minor league options, has watched his average hover around .200.

The Giants haven’t named any Opening Day starters in the outfield and have yet to even guarantee any outfielder in camp a major league job. Steven Duggar, Gerardo Parra and Williamson are good bets to make the team, but none of them have been pushed by a long list of players who received camp invites.

Minor league free agents like Henry Ramos and Anthony Garcia could have forced their way into the outfield competition, but the duo has combined for 12 hits in 55 at-bats. Rule 5 draft choice Drew Ferguson hasn’t made the club’s decision on his future any easier, either, as he has three hits in 22 at-bats.

While early numbers don’t seem to give much hope, Bochy said the Giants are actually pleased with some of the progress players have made over the last week. Williamson and Maybin have barreled up more pitches while Ferguson has drawn five walks and continues to work deep counts. Duggar, the odds-on favorite to start Opening Day in center field, is also helping his cause as he receives more consistent playing time.

“They’re where they need to be right now, I think as far as being two weeks away from the season starting up,” Bochy said.

Bochy’s view of the outfield competition is rather optimistic given what’s transpired in Scottsdale. However, the 13th-year manager has plenty of reason to like what he’s seen from other spring competitions.

The Giants are facing a roster crunch at catcher, where non-roster invitee Rene Rivera has earned rave reviews from pitchers while rookie Aramis Garcia has opened the eyes of front-office evaluators. Former A’s All-Star Stephen Vogt continues to progress after undergoing shoulder surgery last offseason, but he has yet to catch in a major league spring game and could face a significant challenge leaping Rivera on the depth chart.

“I really like throwing to (Rivera). He’s a great target back there and a guy that he reminds me of and somebody that I loved throwing to — he was a former Giant — Bengie Molina,” pitcher Derek Holland said. “He does a great job game calling and keeping you locked in.”

The Giants love the way Garcia’s bat has developed in the last year, but because he has minor league options and a greater need to play on a daily basis, he could be ticketed for Triple-A Sacramento. Regardless of where each catcher starts the season, it’s possible that a scaled-back schedule for starter Buster Posey and the value provided by his potential backups will compel the Giants to use two or even three different reserves over the course of the year.

Bochy and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi are just as excited about the way competitions for starting rotation jobs and bullpen spots have unfolded throughout camp. The Giants will eventually settle on five starters, but there’s a real possibility many of the pitchers the club has relied on over the last few seasons including Chris Stratton, Ty Blach and Andrew Suárez could open the year in the bullpen or at Triple-A Sacramento.

Thanks to solid showings from Jeff Samardzija and Drew Pomeranz as well as prospects Tyler Beede and Shaun Anderson this spring, the Giants have created the type of starting pitching depth Zaidi sought to build upon his arrival in San Francisco.

Those missing out on a stable job in the rotation will not find securing a role as a reliever any easier as the Giants have a surplus of arms capable of making the bullpen the deepest part of the roster. Veterans Mark Melancon, Sam Dyson, Tony Watson and Will Smith are assured of roster spots and the Giants feel confident a cast of eight to 10 other arms still competing will give Bochy a slew of options late in games.

The Giants will eventually need to create space on their 40-man roster for players like Rivera, Parra and Yangervis Solarte, but they’re content to let the roster battles go down to the wire as the club attempts to maximize depth and find some sort of workable solution in an outfield that could still use another reinforcement.

• The Giants managed just three hits in a 3-0 loss to the Diamondbacks on Wednesday. The game took 2 hours, 16 minutes.

“We just didn’t hit many balls hard,” Bochy said. “Two or three balls. You’d like to see it start to happen pretty soon here because they’re getting to the number of atbats where they should start getting locked in.”

The Giants have scored 83 runs in 21 Cactus League games, the fewest of any of the 15 teams training in Arizona.

• Melancon continues to struggle out of the bullpen as his ERA climbed to 11.57 after allowing three of the five Diamondbacks hits in one inning of work. Melancon began the spring in the mix for the Giants’ closer job, but is pitching his way out of it as he struggles to put hitters away deep in counts.