Bullpen of the future arrives early for Giants
SAN FRANCISCO >> The Giants’ bullpen wasn’t supposed to look like this. At least not so soon.
The hard-throwing, exciting young pitching prospects who were added to the 40man roster this offseason — Kervin Castro, Camilo Doval and Gregory Santos — were supposed to gain experience in minor league games and eventually make their way to the big leagues during the
second half of the season.
That’s precisely why the Giants brought more than 30 pitchers to spring training, signing veteran non-roster free agents such as Nick Tropeano, Dominic Leone and even Scott Kazmir. The organization didn’t want to push Doval, 23, or Santos, 21, ahead of schedule, but it turns out, both prospects were better prepared than even some
of the more optimistic members of the Giants’ organization may have realized.
Three weeks into the regular season, both Doval and Santos have reached the major leagues, with Doval having appeared in three games already and Santos earning his first big league promotion on Thursday. He impressed.
At 21 years and 237 days, Santos became the youngest Giants player to debut since Madison Bumgarner did so shortly after his 20th birthday in 2009. The hardthrowing right-hander said he watched his good friend Doval’s debut out of the Giants bullpen on Sunday against the Marlins and noticed how Doval “looked like a veteran” as soon as he took the mound.
In a perfect inning that featured two strikeouts, Santos topped out at 98.9 miles per hour and with his fastball and gave Giants fans a similar impression.
Former Giants general manager Bobby Evans acquired Santos at the 2017 trade deadline in a deal that sent Eduardo Núñez to the Boston Red Sox and the righty spent his entire minor league career as a starter until last offseason. When the Giants began instructional league play in Arizona in the fall, Santos transitioned to the bullpen and the team saw his velocity tick up with a slider that he located more consistently for strikes.
Santos’ relief work put him on the fast track to the big leagues and fewer than 20 games into the season, he joined Doval in the Giants’ bullpen, forming an exciting tandem that could easily be pitching the eighth and ninth innings by the end of the summer.
“Only in the really positive and optimistic visualizations,” said Kapler, when asked if he envisioned their arrivals taking place in April. “I think what that really means is the potential for both of these guys and Kervin Castro as well are all to stick in a major league bullpen. I think that’s part of the reason they’re on our 40-man rosters.”
When spring training ended in March, the Giants didn’t necessarily plan to have Doval or Santos on the 26-man roster this quickly, but both positioned themselves well. When righty Reyes Moronta went down with a right flexor strain, the Giants needed another right-hander and turned to Doval. After starters Logan Webb and Anthony DeSclafani gave the club just four innings each on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Giants again needed another right-hander and turned to Santos.
President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi could have manipulated the 40-man roster to create room for a more experienced arm in Tropeano, Leone or others training at the alternate site, but the Giants didn’t feel that was necessary. Santos showed flashes of brilliance, and the Giants are eager to see if that will continue in the majors. CATCHER ON SHUTOUT STREAK >> It’s no secret that when Buster Posey elected to sit out the 2020 season, Giants pitchers struggled to adjust to working with a group of inexperienced catchers who left the staff longing for the good old days.
With Posey back in the fold this year, the Giants are obviously thrilled, but they don’t seem to mind when he takes a day off.
Posey’s backup, Curt Casali, caught his fifth consecutive shutout on Thursday in a 3-0 win over the Miami Marlins, breaking a franchise record of four in a row set by “Broadway” Aleck Smith during the 1901 season.
Casali became the first major league catcher to start behind the plate for five straight shutouts since Francisco Cervelli of the Pirates caught 56 consecutive scoreless innings in 2015, which is a streak Casali can’t match because he entered as a substitute when the Giants lost on a walk-off double in Miami on Saturday.
Casali is the fifth catcher in the modern era to start and catch five straight shutouts, joining Cervelli, Chris Hoiles (1995), Alan Ashby (1986) and Ed Phelps (1903), who caught six straight for the Pirates.