Holland, Osich make push for spots on Opening Day roster
PEORIA, ARIZ. » After a season in which nothing went right, the Giants are skewing left. In the bullpen, that is. With two weeks separating the club from Opening Day at Dodger Stadium, a handful of players are preparing tomake a final push for roster spots, including a few left-handers who could provide much-needed versatility in the Giants’ bullpen.
On Wednesday night in Peoria, veteran Derek Holland started and logged 3 1/3 innings while fellow southpaw Josh Osich mowed down seven hitters in an extended relief appearance. Though the duo might have been on the outside of the roster equation looking in when spring training started, both pitchers have boosted their chances of breaking camp with the big league club.
While Holland is still competing for roles as a starter and reliever, Osich has looked every bit the dominant lefty the Giants believe he can become. He’s flashed immense potential this spring and credits a decision to ditch his curveball and rework his mechanics to the improved results.
“This dude has a doubleplus fastball and he has a double-plus changeup,” firstyear bullpen coach Matt Herges said. “The beauty about a changeup is there’s no taboo about throwing it to both lefties and righties. It’s a weapon to both.”
A former 11-year major league reliever, Herges played for all five National League West clubs during his career and pitched on a number of losing teams. Herges spent the 2017 season tutoring major leaguecaliber talent with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City, and based on his experience as a player and as a coach, he understands how critical building depth is to a bullpen — and ultimately a team’s — success.
Due to the Giants’ lack of depth last year, Osich was on the front lines of a losing battle. Thanks to his mechanical overhaul and the Giants’ determination to add reinforcements, Osich is now one of several lefthanders manager Bruce Bochy can turn to for outs.
“O just seems like he’s got a lot more confidence and he’s kept it simpler,” Bochy said. “He’s not tinkering around with different pitches. The curveball, the cutter, the bigger slider, he’s throwing more strikes. He’s just throwing the fastball and changeup and the occasional breaking ball.”
While Osich and Steven Okert were the Giants’ primary left-handed relievers last season, general manager Bobby Evans signed durable lefty Tony Watson to a two-year deal with a third-year player option during the first week of spring camp.
Watson has pitched in at least 67 games in each of the last six seasons, and around May 1, he’ll join forces with another one of baseball’s most active pitchers. After Will Smith sat out last year following season-ending Tommy John surgery, Smith is slated to join a bullpen that’s now built to cre- ate late-inning matchup issues for the Giants’ opponents.
“There’s a lot of big games, a lot of things that happen and you’re going to need a lot of different arms, a lot of different angles, a lot of different speeds and a lot of different spin,” Watson said. “We’ve got that in here and the most important part is that it’s a cohesive group and the culture in here is really solid.”
When Bochy was at his best, he developed a reputation as a wizard of the bullpen, a manager who could do no wrong when certain strings needed pulling. In 2017, Bochy didn’t have many strings left to tug on, considering a few of his favorites were slashed.
Aside from losing closer Mark Melancon for three significant chunks of the season, Bochy also dealt with a bullpen that missed a commanding left-handed presence. Jeremy Affeldt retired in 2015 and Javier Lopez followed suit in 2016, so the hole created when Smith needed surgery swallowed the Giants’ hopes.
This year, Watson will handle the highest leverage situations in which the Giants need a lefty on the mound, reprising the role Lopez filled during his tenure with the club. If Smith returns to form, he’ll build bridges into the late innings, handling the rigorous assignments Affeldt checked off for much of his career.
“Can’t wait for that day,” Herges said of Smith’s return. “Because this is a guy that has got experience, he’s what youwant. He’s fearless, he’s really tough on lefties.”
• For the second straight start, Giants righty Jeff Samardzija allowed three home runs in the same inning Thursday night. Three Padres hitters — Chase Headley, Cory Spangenberg and Eric Hosmer — all took Samardzija deep from the left side of the plate to push San Diego to an early lead in the third inning.
Samardzija has now given up 13 earned runs in 10 2/3 Cactus League innings.