SPRINGING TO LIFE
Giants: Cactus League slate begins with loss to L.A.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. >> The Giants and Dodgers had to wait longer than anyone expected, but after a rare spring storm pushed Saturday’s Cactus League opener back more than two hours, the 2020 baseball season finally began.
Months after sending Bruce Bochy into retirement with a miserable 9-0 loss to the Dodgers, the Giants welcomed new manager Gabe Kapler into the dugout against the same team and dropped a 10-4 game that again highlighted the gap in talent between the two sides.
Six of the eight spring training games in Arizona scheduled for Saturday were cancelled, but the Giants decided to let the rain pass before starter Dereck Rodríguez threw the first pitch of the year. The bright Arizona sun returned to its familiar spot in the sky and the Dodgers returned to doing what they do best: Tormenting the Giants.
Los Angeles jumped out to an early 5-0 lead as Dodgers slugger Max Muncy had two hits before the giants recorded one of their own. A handful of Giants players had impressive showings on day one, but the trio of Buster Posey, Evan Longoria and Brandon Belt combined to go 0 for 6.
After taking an early gut punch, the giants jabbed back with home runs from shortstop Mauricio Dubón and top prospect joey bart, who spent the second half of Saturday’s game behind the plate.
Here’s what stood out from Saturday’s game. RODRÍGUEZ BRINGS THE HEAT >> Velocity was an issue for Rodríguez during a rough 2019 season in which he posted a 5.64 ERA and spent time in the rotation, the bullpen and at Triple-a Sacramento.
Pitchers don’t pay too much attention to the radar gun at the beginning of spring, but the early readings for Rodríguez were encouraging on Saturday. After allowing a walk and a base hit to open the game, he blew a 93-mph fastball past 2019 NL MVP Cody Bellinger for his first strikeout and followed it with a 92-mph four-seamer to strike out A.J. Pollock.
“You’ve got to remember it’s the first game for them too,” Rodríguez said. “I was the first guy they saw in a while so those swings don’t mean nothing. If I’m getting swings like that in a month and a half, I’ll be happy.”
Rodríguez finished in the 10th percentile of all pitchers last season in average fastball velocity (90.7 miles per hour) and the Giants believe a slight uptick will lead to more performances that resemble how Rodríguez pitched during an electric rookie year in 2018.
“I felt like last year I was jumping a little bit off the mound and this year I’m trying to be a little more smooth,” Rodríguez said. “It’s just the rhythm and timing.”
Despite the positives for Rodríguez, his outing wasn’t particularly memorable for the rest of the team. The Giants’ defense did Rodríguez no favors as right fielder Jaylin
Davis, second baseman Donovan Solano and shortstop Mauricio Dubón all committed first-inning errors that led to two runs.
“We can handle the ball better than we did early in the game,” Kapler said. DUBÓN STRIKES FIRST >> The first Giants home run of 2020 belongs to Dubón, who lined a rocket over the left field fence at Scottsdale Stadium in his first at-bat of the spring.
After Dubón made an error in his first opportunity at shortstop Saturday, he made up for the miscue with a swing that sent a jolt through the Giants dugout. The solo shot off Dodgers righthander Josh Sborz served as a reminder as to why the Giants value Dubón so much as the utility man has impressive power and a wiry, athletic frame that allows him to play all over the diamond.
In his second plate appearance, Dubón took another smooth swing as he lined a RBI single into center field off reliever Brett de Geus. After exiting Saturday’s game, Dubón attributed his success at the plate to a mechanical tweak he’s made with new hitting coach Donnie Ecker.
“The change looks a little different because I’m not dropping as low and that helps me see the ball a little better,” Dubón said. “My eye level doesn’t change. But it’s a work in progress.”
The Giants won’t play any of Saturday’s starters in today’s game against the A’s in Mesa, but don’t be surprised to see Dubón in the outfield during the first week of the spring as the team wants to expose him to various positions and gauge how he can handle center field.
BART PROVIDES A LIFT >> Most of the 72 players in Giants camp this spring have at least an outside chance of making the Opening Day roster, but the front office insists catcher and top prospect Joey Bart will be wellserved by spending the early portion of the season playing every day in the minors.
Bart can’t do much to change the minds of Giants decision-makers, but he did start the spring off on a high note with an opposite field homer that showed why the team believes he’ll eventually be a middle-of-the-order-force.
“We’ve seen that swing regularly since camp began,” Kapler said. “The drive the ball in the air to the right side and we all watched it together the first time he came out for batting practice. It was nice to see that show up in a game.”
Bart’s power makes him
one of the top prospects in all of baseball and he showed the ability to consistently drive the ball to right field in his first big league camp last spring. After battling a pair of hand injuries last season, the Giants are happy to see Bart healthy again.
• The Giants had a few good outings from relief pitchers, but no one enjoyed a better day than minor league free-agent and non-roster invitee Matt Carasiti.
The 28-year-old righthander struck out all three batters he faced in the top of the fifth as he spotted his low-90s fastball and tough splitter well at the bottom of the strike zone. Carasiti’s strikeouts came against three players — Pollock, Kiké Hernández and Matt Beaty — who boast major league experience.
Carasiti has 30 MLB games under his belt between stints with the Rockies and Mariners and will have an outside shot to win a bullpen job this spring.
Fellow reliever Rico García also shined as he struck out a pair of Dodgers hitters and induced a soft groundout during a one-two-three second inning.
• Left fielder Austin Slater finished the day 1-for-2 with a run scored as he tripled into the left center field gap in the bottom of the fifth. Slater is one of the frontrunners for an Opening Day roster spot in the outfield and he’ll increase his value if he shows improvement against righthanded pitchers.
• When a manager is ejected from a game, the bench coach traditionally assumes the manager’s responsibilities.
If Kapler is ejected during the 2020 season, firstyear bench coach Kai Correa won’t be calling the shots. The Giants have instead elected to have third base coach Ron Wotus step in and lead the team any time Kapler is unable to do so.
Correa, 31, has never coached in the majors before this year but has been instrumental in ushering in change this spring and is making strong impressions with his organizational and leadership skills.
During split-squad games, Kapler will manage one of the Giants’ teams while Wotus will manage the other with Correa providing assistance in his bench coach role.