Gott making a pitch to again be important part of Giants bullpen
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. >> Every spring, pitchers across baseball experiment with new grips, different mechanics and various cues that may lead to slight improvements or huge breakthroughs.
With a 13-person coaching staff, the Giants have no shortage of voices in the ears of their players. One who’s already commanding their attention is Brian Bannister, the Giants’ pitching director who came to the organization after spending five seasons with the Red Sox.
Bannister spent the offseason examining arm slots, evaluating pitch shapes and studying the Giants’ personnel so he could jump right in this spring. The former big leaguer suggested new pitches for prospect Logan Webb, quickly earned the trust of freeagent signee Kevin Gausman and is now assisting reliever Trevor Gott with implementing a “sweeping slider.”
Manager Gabe Kapler said Friday that Gott unveiled his new slider in his first bullpen of the spring and impressed the Giants’ coaching staff with the shape of the pitch. Gott was a valuable asset in the Giants’ bullpen last year and
Kapler believes the righthander has the ability to succeed in any situation.
Gott could be in the mix for a late-inning role such as the closer job, but the Giants are less focused on determining which pitchers will appear in specific situations and emphasizing the value of versatility in the bullpen.
“You could be an early in the game guy, you could lock down a spot at the back end of the bullpen and pitch the eighth or the ninth, but what we want him going in thinking is that he could be used in any situation,” Kapler said.
Gott finished last season on the injured list after a groin issue hampered him during his last five games of the year. Before the injury zapped his effectiveness, Gott had posted a 3.44 ERA and allowed only three homers in his first 45 games.
The Giants love Gott’s command of the strike zone and his ability to throw more than one inning at a time — he recorded at least five outs in eight games last year — and believe an improved breaking ball will keep hitters off balance. JOEY BART'S DEFENSE A PRIORITY >> The Giants have catching coach Craig Albernaz and bullpen catchers Brant Whiting and Taira Uematsu working closely with top prospect Joey Bart during bullpen sessions on improving his glove positioning when he catches a pitch.
Kapler said the Giants want Bart to get his mitt “underneath the ball” so he can make his the glove appear smaller to the home plate umpire and in turn, steal more strikes. This kind of catching nuance may ultimately go out of style if and when Major League Baseball adopts an electronic strike zone (which Bart is not a fan of), but for now, the Giants believe Bart can aid his pitchers with some small tweaks.
“When the glove is tilted down, it tends to look larger, it’s got that side angle,” Kapler said. “When you get up underneath the ball, it’s flatter and looks more like a strike.”
It’s easy to know when Bart takes batting practice because the ball makes such a loud sound off his bat, but the Giants want him to be as quiet as possible from a movement standpoint when he’s behind the plate.
AUSTIN SLATER TAKES
GROUNDERS AT SHORTSTOP >> Kapler said outfielderturned-utility man Austin Slater will take groundballs at all four infield positions this spring to maximize Slater’s versatility and allow the Giants to find more ways to get Slater’s bat in the lineup.
Slater has played first base 27 times in his major league career and spent time in the low minors playing third base and second, but the Giants appear intent on moving Slater around the diamond more often this season.
It’s unlikely Slater will play shortstop in a regularseason game, but it doesn’t hurt for a player to become acquainted with a new position during spring training. Slater posted an .838 OPS against left-handed pitchers last season so the Giants are motivated to create opportunities for him to hit against lefties.
“He definitely has raw power dating back to his time at Stanford,” Kapler said. “We know about the pedigree, we just want to see that come out in games.” TYLER ROGERS AN ASSET AGAINST LEFTIES? >> After years of toiling at TripleA, submarine-style righthander Tyler Rogers finally received his first call to the big leagues where he made fans wonder why the Giants didn’t bring him up sooner.
Rogers posted a 1.02 ERA in 17 games and did not allow a home run in the “year of the juiced ball.” He was incredibly effective against left-handers as they recorded only three hits in 22 at-bats against Rogers, but pitchers who throw from non-traditional arm slots like Rogers does have often had trouble against batters on the opposite side of the plate.
“One of the things that hasn’t been done traditionally is with a sinker-slider guy like Tyler, having more targets up in the bullpen,” Kapler said. “We’re making a conscious effort to have him go after that location.”
Kapler said the Giants believe Rogers can continue to be effective against lefties if he throws his slider up and in against them because it’s a spot where he’ll induce weak contact and awkward swings. Rogers said he hasn’t received any directives from the coaching staff about using his slider more often, but when he threw a bullpen Friday, he said the feedback to that particular pitch was very positive. WILMER FLORES STICKING
WITH ‘FRIENDS' THEME >> New Giants infielder Wilmer Flores said he didn’t know he was the first player to receive a multi-year contract from the organization under president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, but he said “it’s definitely an honor,” and “any time a team wants you, you feel happy about it.”
Flores said he’s willing to play all over the diamond and do whatever is asked of him, but one thing he won’t try during the 2020 season is a new walk-up song. The Venezuela native has used the theme song to the TV sitcom “Friends” when walking up to the plate and says he has no plans to change that this year.
Flores may not have a ton of old friends in the Giants’ clubhouse, but he lives in Miami during the offseason and trained with fellow Giants infielder Pablo Sandoval. Sandoval was responsible for pitching fellow countrymen Yangervis Solarte and Gerardo Parra on joining the Giants last offseason, but Flores said Sandoval took a hands-off approach and didn’t discuss free agency with him during their workouts.