Sacramento lefty gets call, may start
ARLINGTON, Texas — Sammy Long’s tear through DoubleA and a brief stint of success at TripleA Sacramento, his hometown, did not go unnoticed.
The Giants added the lefthander to their taxi squad Tuesday, and he will be activated for Wednesday’s game at Texas. Manager Gabe Kapler said that Long’s role is as yet undetermined, but he’s in the mix to start.
On the field before Tuesday’s game, Long said he’d had “any emotion you can think of ” when Sacramento manager Dave Brundage told him the good news. “It’s been a crazy journey here. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of it.”
Long briefly gave up professional baseball after being released by the Rays three years ago, and was planning to work as an EMT and then a firefighter, but he worked his way back by transforming his body and rededicating himself to the sport. He’ll have more than 30 people on hand Wednesday, including his parents, his girlfriend and her family, and his trainers from the Optimum Athletes facility in Sacramento. “It’s going to be pretty special," he said.
Brundage had some fun with him when he let Long know he was getting the call to the big leagues, telling him he was going from the bullpen back to the rotation in five days. It dawned on Long that that would be Wednesday — Sacramento’s day off. “So wheels started turning,” Long said. “He said, ‘Sorry, so the only team you'd be able to pitch for on Wednesday would be against the Rangers,’ and it was hugs, handshakes.”
This will be the first bigleague callup for Long, 25, who played at Del Campo High and Sacramento State. In four starts at DoubleA Richmond, he had a 3.00 ERA and struck out 22 and walked four in 15 innings. At Sacramento, he was even better, allowing one hit in 71⁄3 innings. He struck out 15 and walked one. That’s right, 15 Ks in 71⁄3 innings.
“The reports on him are good,” Kapler said. “He’s throwing the ball well. It’s coming out good, carrying through the zone. He’s using that threepitch mix, fastball, changeup and curveball, throwing strikes. He’s made a lot of adjustments along the way, and his stuff has improved at each step.”
Long can work as a, well, long reliever if need be, but should he get the chance to start and if he were to perform well, he could wind up getting a longer look while another Sacramentoarea starter, Logan Webb, is on the injured list with a shoulder strain.
“If you ask me what my dream scenario would be, it would be that somebody emerges as a nobrainer rotation filler every time through,” Kapler said. “That’s not the easiest thing to to make happen — it requires a bit of a bit of luck and really good timing and excellent performance.”