Tropeano hasfinal chanceto earn spot
ucSA, ARIZ. >> For a non-roster invitee like San Francisco Giants right-handed pitcher Nick Tropeano, every spring training outing can be precarious and anything short of near perfection can smother any glimmer of hope for a highly-coveted Major League roster spot.
In Tropeano’s case, Cactus League play had gone off without any missteps in his first five spring training outings. The 30-year-old righty allowed just one earned run in eight innings.
On Friday, though, he surrendered a home run, two doubles, two earned runs and a walk in two innings in what turned into a 5-5 tie with the Chicago Cubs. With the competition so stiff for a spot in the Giants’ bullpen, the gravity of such a shaky outing could be large. Tropeano, however, is confident that Friday’s outing won’t overshadow his otherwise impressive work in camp.
“You can’t really worry about some things you can’t control,” said Tropeano. “You’ve got to put yourself in a good position to make them make a hard decision. I think I put myself in a pretty good position. Knock on wood and we’ll see what happens.”
Friday’s outing was far from perfect for Tropeano, whose fastball turned into several extrabase hits, including the first-inning home run off the bat of Palo Alto native and former Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson. The way Tropeano saw it, though, there were still some positives to take from the outing. He said he still had solid feel for his offspeed pitches, just not as solid as his previous outings.
His manager felt good about the day, too.
“It’s a difficult lineup to get through and I thought (Tropeano) did a nice job navigating it,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “Location wasn’t perfect but he did a nice job of executing his pitches when he needed to.”
Aside from Friday’s perfor
mance, Tropeano has been electric this spring and Kapler has sung his praises on multiple occasions.
“He’s going to mix and match his pitches,” Kapler said Thursday. “We feel really confident when he’s on the mound right now. It’s been a positive spring for (Tropeano).”
Tropeano’s output as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020 suggests that his spring training showing is no fluke. The 30-year-old served as the Pirates’ long-reliever last year, pitching 15.2 innings to the tune of a stellar 1.15 ERA. His 402 ERA+ ranked No. 14 in baseball among pitchers who threw at least 15 innings.
Tropeano’s first and only season with the Pirates marked the first in which he was a full-time long reliever, a role that he could very well find himself in with the Giants if he makes their Opening Day roster. It was also the first season in his career that saw him sport an ERA below 3.50.
“The splitter has been a really effective pitch for him,” Kapler said. “He’s not a guy that jumps off the page at you. You look up at the board and it’s 9192, nothing overwhelming but he’s consistently in and around the zone and his split is a really good weapon for him.”
Tropeano isn’t the only Giants non-roster invitee with a chance to break camp as a major leaguer. Right-handed pitchers Zack Littell and Dominic Leone are perceived to have the best chances while lefty Scott Kazmir and righty Shun Yamaguchi are also in contention for a coveted roster spot.
Leone has been among the most active Giants pitchers this spring with eight Cactus League appearances, the secondmost in the organization behind fellow non-roster invitee, righty Zack Littell (nine). Like Tropeano, Leone has put up tremendous numbers in his first spring as a Giant, a 1.17 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 7.2 innings. Littell, a Major Leaguer with the Minnesota Twins since 2018, has a 5.0 ERA in 9.0 innings.
“Littell has been very consistent throughout camp and has really made a case for himself and Leone has been as good,” Kapler said on Thursday. “Both those guys are having great camps.”
The window for players to prove they deserve a Major League roster spot is narrowing with Opening Day nearing. Given his production this spring, Tropeano is seemingly still in a favorable position.
“I’m not sure that this outing, in particular, had any significant impact,” Kapler said of Tropeano’s chances to make the big league roster. “His body of work has been good and he’s put his best foot forward. He’s done a nice job for us overall.”
GIANTS REASSIGN A PAIR OF RIGHTIES >>
Right-handed pitchers Jimmie Sherfy and Yunior Marte were reassigned to minor-league camp, the team announced Friday.
Sherfy, a 29-year-old non-roster invitee who spent the last three seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks, appeared in eight Cactus League games with the Giants and surrendered five earned runs in 7.2 innings. Sherfy flashed his ability to generate swings and misses with 15 strikeouts and a resulting 17.6 strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate.
While he didn’t do it at nearly as high a rate as Sherfy, Marte also accumulated a double-digit strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate (10.5). The 26-year-old native of the Dominican Republic owned a 4.50 ERA in six innings this spring.
The Giants’ spring roster is now comprised of 34 players, including six nonroster invitees, all of whom are pitchers.
Notes
• The Giants have taken a particularly cautious approach in third baseman Evan Longoria’s recovery from plantar fasciitis. The 13-year MLB veteran infielder has exclusively served as the Giants’ designated hitter this spring, something that is set to change on Saturday when San Francisco takes on the Seattle Mariners. Kapler said after Friday’s game that Longoria is expected to make his debut at third base, a significant step in his recovery.
• Originally listed as one of the pitchers set to appear for the Giants on Saturday, left-handed starter Alex Wood will no longer take the mound against the Mariners and will instead through an inning in a simulated game, Kapler said. Wood underwent a spinal ablation procedure after he experienced back discomfort.