Giants’ Gabe Kapler plans to rest position players more during stretch of ‘grueling’ season
As the Giants opened a nine-game homestand Tuesday night, manager Gabe Kapler warned that some of the lineups might appear slightly out of the ordinary during the regular season's final eight weeks.
With Brandon Belt and Tommy La Stella back from long injuredlist stints and Evan Longoria nearing a return, the Giants are close to having a full complement of position players that will allow Kapler to give his starters more regular rest and focus on keeping the roster as healthy as possible.
“It's just going to be a major point of emphasis for us,” he said. “It doesn't mean that we're going to be perfect with it, but we're going to try our best to put these guys in a position to be successful and healthy.”
Kapler's plan is to come up with a schedule that has lineups at least five days out, so the players realize he's not basing his rest days on performance and players will have an advanced plan for how to approach their off days.
He said Belt, Kris Bryant, Brandon Crawford, Longoria and Buster Posey will get regular rest down the stretch, and it'll be about more than just getting the experienced players off their feet.
It's also about giving muchneeded mental breaks in an effort to preserve energy.
“One thing I think a lot about is how much a player plays and grinds,” Kapler said. “If you're concentrating and thinking about baseball every waking hour of your day, you can get worn down. It's not just about how many innings you play between the lines. It's about those elevated concentration levels.
“In a perfect world, guys would get blows, stints where they would just have a mental break. You'd be able to fill in for those players with adequate replacements. These guys do need mental time off. The season is such a grueling task to get through.”
Kapler backed his theory with two recent examples of players who have been performing at elite levels after a break.
Since coming off the injured list Thursday, Belt was 5-for-13 with four homers and seven RBIS through Sunday, and La Stella's game-winning RBI on Sunday capped an 11-pitch at-bat.
“I personally think that one fair correlation to these guys coming back and swinging the bat well is: They just got a blow,” Kapler said. “They weren't grinding every single day and fighting every single day and concentrating every single day.”
Injury updates: Longoria, who has been on the injured list with a left shoulder sprain since June 6, was with the big-league club Tuesday, but he's not quite ready to be activated. Kapler said the third baseman's shoulder feels fine, but he experienced “heavy” legs after a rehab stint with Triple-a Sacramento. “It's something that we want to monitor. I don't think there's anything major to report here. We just want to let him come out strong and feeling good.” Kapler said more rehab atbats are a possibility, but the team had yet to make any immediate plans past allowing Longoria to recover Tuesday. ... Right-handed reliever Reyes Moronta (right flexor strain) backed up throwing consecutive days this weekend by striking out two in a scoreless seventh inning Tuesday during a rehab stint in Sacramento. “The velocity has gotten better, and he's continued to perform,” Kapler said. “I think that's fairly encouraging, considering that he performed well for us earlier in the season, without his best stuff. I think his stuff right now is probably better than we saw early in the year.” ... Kapler said Anthony Desclafani, who missed his last start with right shoulder fatigue, is expected to throw a full bullpen Wednesday and return to the rotation Friday.
Doval up: The Giants recalled right-handed reliever Camilo Doval from Triple-a Sacramento and optioned right-handed reliever John Brebbia to the River Cats. Doval struck out 15 batters in 9 2/3 innings during his last eight outings and posted a 2.79 ERA during the span.