Hjelle hopes to muscle way into rotation
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — When a player stands 6foot-11, it’s hard to tell that he’s put on some muscle, but San Francisco Giants right-hander Sean Hjelle prioritized adding a little more weight this winter and came into camp 15 pounds heavier. That has added a little more oomph to Hjelle’s pitches, and a slightly less lanky frame also might help his stamina over the course of the year.
Hjelle was already impressing the Giants’ brain trust before gaining that extra bit of bulk. His work when called up late last season had put him high on the list of starting depth options coming into the new season. His spring performance has burnished that status: He’s consistently hitting 95-96 mph with his fastball and he has put up a 1.50 ERA and struck out 14 and walked just two in 12 innings.
“He’s had a great camp and thrown the ball really well,” pitching coach Andrew Bailey said. “We see the velocity up and he’s thrown a ton of strikes. He’s filling up the zone, getting right-handers and lefthanders out, locating his pitches really well.”
Hjelle tried to increase his calories to 4,500 a day during the winter by eating an extra meal a day — “It wasn’t some crazy fad diet,” he said — and he followed his offseason workout program carefully to make sure all he gained was muscle.
“That was something that (manager) Gabe Kapler and the coaching staff challenged me with this offseason, to really commit to a program, put on that weight and get that strength to show I’m up for being a big-leaguer,” Hjelle said.
There were also some delivery issues to address, as motion-capture technology at the team’s minorleague facility demonstrated.
“I was able to see every point of my body throughout my entire movement down the mound and it was able to tell us that my hips move really well down the mound,” Hjelle said. “It’s my shoulders and my thoracic-spine mobility that’s the first thing to falter. That was really easy to identify.”
Hjelle has focused on making sure he has separation between his hips and shoulders — making sure when his hips turn, his upper half doesn’t come along immediately — in order to create more torque. He has also shortened his stride.
“I try to keep my shoulder squared off to third base for as late and long as possible and at that last second, thrust through,” Hjelle said.
The impact is significant.
“I’ve been noticing a lot more movement, better movement profiles on all my pitches,” Hjelle said. “Especially my two-seamer; it has a little bit more horizontal movement and less vertical movement. For me, just getting the right location and having the movement be late is really what it’s about.”
“He’s super exciting,” said Kapler, who consistently namechecks Hjelle when discussing the potential roster. “If he can maintain that strikethrowing and that velocity, he’s a major-league starter.”
It isn’t obvious where Hjelle might fit on the Opening Day roster, however. The team has seven starters already, with Jakob Junis ticketed for the bullpen and Sean Manaea potentially serving as a piggyback option in tandem with another starter. The fact that Hjelle is still in the mix for a spot is a testament to his (mostly) good results over his final five outings in 2022, allowing no more than two runs in four of those. Subtract an ugly six-run outing in 1+ innings against the Dodgers, and Hjelle had a 2.00 ERA in his final stint with the team last year.
Cole Waites is likely to have the upper hand when it comes to earning the final spot in the bullpen, especially if the Giants want Hjelle to stay stretched out and making starts in readiness if there is an injury. He’d be the first option in the event of any need.
“Sean’s in a really good spot,” Bailey said. “It’s an awesome developmental story for the organization to see him get his feet wet last year — and being set up well to have a really good season.”
Hjelle was a secondround pick out of Kentucky in 2018, and he’ll be 26 in May, but it appears his time is coming.
“I know I can do this,” he said. “I know I can be one of these guys, so I’m going to do everything I possibly can in order to become one of those guys.”