Cueto whiffs Trout, but also taken deep
TEMPE, Ariz. — Righthander Johnny Cueto, potentially in line to start Opening Night at Seattle for the Giants, had some interesting interactions in his third and final inning Thursday.
First, he cracked up Mike Trout, the Angels star. After waiting for a pitch a beat too long, Trout stepped out and bent over laughing at the slowpitch tactic. He wound up striking out — two innings after he’d crushed a tworun homer off Cueto in the first. Cueto said he threw a changeup for the strikeout — the same pitch on which Trout had homered, but in a different location.
Then manager Gabe Kapler strolled out for a chat after Shohei Ohtani singled with two out. He left Cueto in.
“He wanted to know if I wanted to face that last one batter and I told him, ‘Yeah, let me just go ahead,’ ” Cueto said he told Kapler. Anthony Rendon flied out to end the inning.
“There’s a tough few hitters at the top of their lineup — there’s more than a few, it’s a grind to get through,” Kapler said. “After the first inning, he settled in nicely.”
The Giants lost the seveninning game 54, but Kapler enjoyed the TroutCueto matchup as much as everyone else. “To see him get creative out there and kind of talk to Trout a little bit, it’s just great entertainment,” Kapler said.
Cueto and Kevin Gausman are the top options to start the April 1 opener, and Gausman is following the veteran and former AllStar in the Arizona rotation. Gausman will make his spring debut Friday against the Rockies in Scottsdale, but Kapler said not to read too much into the timing — adding that the team has lots of time left before making a decision and plenty of flexibility with the starters. “We’re getting closer,” Kapler said.
⏩ Jason Krizan, who homered and made a gameending catch in left Wednesday, started at second Thursday. Krizan, 31, didn’t play last summer during the shutdown but gave hitting lessons instead, and the Giants were among the first teams to call this winter. He knows Mike Yastrzemski well from playing against him and knows his career arc — longtime minorleaguer who made the most of his opportunity — and that fit the bill for Krizan. “Seeing him come here and break out, rejuvenate his career, it’s been unbelievable,” Krizan, who has a .983 OPS this spring, said of Yastrzemski.
⏩ Lefty Scott Kazmir, one of the best stories in camp as he tries to make a second career comeback, will make his Giants debut Friday.
⏩ Kapler said first baseman Brandon Belt, who has been out of action with an illness not related to COVID, is feeling better and increasing his baseball activity. “He was smiling a lot more today,” Kapler said.
⏩ Outfielder Austin Slater (hamstring tightness) might get an atbat and play some defense Friday. Another player with hamstring soreness, reliever Caleb Baragar, threw a bullpen session Thursday.
⏩ Reliever Reyes Moronta, who is returning from shoulder surgery, will pitch in a game this weekend.