Pitchers and Catchers Report Today

By Joe Ritzo

San Francisco Giants pitchers and catchers report to Scottsdale today signifying the official start of spring training. A few days later, all 62 players invited to camp will have arrived with the first full squad workout scheduled for next Tuesday. Of the 62 players, 34 are former San Jose Giants with many of those attempting to earn spots on the opening day roster while others will be appearing in their first league big camp looking to make a good impression.

There were 14 former San Jose Giants on San Francisco’s World Series winning roster last fall. In all likelihood, there will be a similar number of former SJ Giants on the opening day roster at the end of the spring. In addition to returnees Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey, Tim Lincecum, Sergio Romo, Ryan Vogelsong, Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford, players such as Joe Panik and Travis Ishikawa are near-locks to make the roster after emerging with the club down the stretch last season. Matt Cain is also expected to return to full health for the start of the year after an elbow injury sidelined the workhorse right-hander during the second half of last season.

Ehire Adrianza and Juan Perez made the opening day roster last year with the latter, of course, playing a major role on the club during the playoffs. Players such as Andrew Susac, Matt Duffy and Hunter Strickland will be attempting to make their first opening day roster after each spent all of last October with the big league team. Hector Sanchez, Adam Duvall and Gary Brown have varying levels of prior experience in San Francisco with each looking to put themselves in the conversation for a spot on the team. Meanwhile, top prospects such as Kyle Crick, Steven Okert, Ty Blach and Mac Williamson will look to make a strong impression this spring to help their cause for a call-up later in the year.

A year after winning the World Series, the bulk of San Francisco’s roster is set as spring training gets underway. However, there should be some intriguing competition for the final few position player spots with multiple former SJ Giants among the top candidates.

Adrianza and Duffy figure to be in competition for a reserve infield spot on the opening day roster. Adrianza didn’t play after July 24 last season, but started to come on offensively before his injury and given that he’s out of options, is probably the more likely candidate to make the roster. A top-flight defensive player with substantial experience at shortstop, Adrianza hit .237 with six doubles and no home runs in 97 big league at-bats last season.

Meanwhile, Duffy was promoted straight from Double-A Richmond to San Francisco just after Adrianza’s season-ending injury last season. And Duffy was so impressive late in the year, primarily as a pinch-hitter, that he was included on the playoff roster and continued to make an impact through October. In 60 regular season at-bats last season with the Giants, Duffy batted .267 with a pair of doubles. Duffy has seen action almost exclusively at shortstop in the minor leagues, but was mainly a second baseman when given an opportunity to play in the field after his call-up last season. Duffy has still yet to play an inning of Triple-A ball in his career. He could force his way back onto the big league roster this spring or the organization could send him down to Sacramento to play everyday.

Duvall is another option to make the roster in a reserve role. The slugging corner infielder smacked 27 home runs in just 91 Triple-A games last season and then went deep three more times over 73 at-bats in San Francisco, but managed just a .192 batting average in “The Show.” Duvall could provide a lift as a much-needed right-handed power bat coming off the bench and will have a lot to prove this spring.

In the outfield, Perez enters another spring fighting for a spot on the opening day roster. Perez made the team coming out of camp last season, but spent the majority of the year shutting back-and-forth between Triple-A and the big leagues. He hit just .170 in 100 major league at-bats last season, but continued to play a strong defensive outfield. His greatest impact was then made in the playoffs when he supplied several big moments coming off the bench before starting Game 7 of the World Series in left field.

If the team decides they want a true fifth outfielder on the roster, then Perez figures to be the leading candidate to again make the team. It is possible though that Ishikawa, a natural first baseman, but someone who gained substantial experience in left during the playoffs last fall, could fill that role with Perez going back to Triple-A. Either way, it’s a big spring for Perez as he attempts to further establish himself at the highest level.

At the catching position, the back-up job appears to be Susac’s to lose after his strong first impression in the big leagues late last season. Regarded by many now as the #1 prospect in the organization, Susac hit .273 with eight doubles and three home runs in 88 at-bats during the regular season before spending the entire postseason on the roster. Given his success combined with Sanchez’s concussion issues last season, it’s expected that Susac will make the opening day roster for the first time in his career. Still, this will serve as an important spring for Susac as he manages those high expectations and looks to continue to show he deserves a spot on the roster.

Meanwhile, Sanchez will look to prove that he’s back at full strength and ready to help the club this season. Sanchez hit just .196 with eight doubles and three home runs in 163 at-bats last season and didn’t see any big league action after July 25.

On the pitching side, there are far fewer former San Jose Giants that are on the cusp of making the opening day roster. The big name to follow will be Strickland, who quickly climbed through the ranks last season. After a promotion straight from Double-A on September 1, Strickland didn’t allow a run in nine big league relief appearances and also notched a key save during the final week of the regular season. He enjoyed more success early in the postseason with another save in Game 2 of the NLDS before a humbling experience throughout the remainder of the playoffs in which he struggled to keep the ball in the ballpark. Still regarded as one of the top relief pitcher prospects in the system and a potential future closer, Strickland enters this spring with visions of making an opening day roster for the first time. A major storyline throughout the March exhibition games will be seeing how Strickland bounces back from his disappointing October.

If all of the veterans are healthy and ready for opening day (notably Cain and Tim Hudson), then there may not be a spot for Strickland on the roster (as then the likes of Vogelsong and Yusmeiro Petit figure to start the year in the bullpen). Still, even if Strickland doesn’t make the team coming out of camp, he almost certainly will have a role, perhaps a major one, on the 2015 San Francisco Giants eventually.

Top prospect starting pitchers Crick, Blach, Clayton Blackburn, Adalberto Mejia and Chris Stratton will also be in big league camp. None of these hurlers have yet to pitch above the Double-A level, but the spring certainly offers a great opportunity to impress in front of the big league coaching staff. The organization hopes they represent the next wave of great homegrown Giants starting pitchers. Minor league veteran and former SJ Giant standout Chris Heston was a September call-up last season and is almost certainly headed back to Triple-A, but will look for a solid spring to bolster his chances for big league time later in the year.

Former San Jose relievers Cody Hall, Steven Okert and Ray Black will be in camp as well, but all have also yet to pitch above Double-A (and in Black’s case, above the Class-A Advanced level). Relievers though can move quickly through the system and all three are obviously held in high regard by the organization as the spring opens.

A bevy of former San Jose outfielders will also be in big league camp this spring, including Brown, Williamson, Daniel Carbonell and Jarrett Parker. Only Brown has big league experience among this group as a September call-up last year. For Williamson, this spring offers a chance to get back on the field in game situations for the first time since last April when he underwent Tommy John surgery. Carbonell and Parker, like Brown, are on the 40-man roster which figures to increase their chances for a call-up later in the year.

Finally, former San Jose infielders Mitch Delfino and Kelby Tomlinson aren’t in contention for spots on the opening day roster, but will also start the spring in big league camp. Delfino had a solid 2014 season in San Jose and the Giants organization generally lacks for quality third base depth in the upper levels of the system, which should help his cause. Tomlinson, who played both shortstop and second last year in Richmond, led the Eastern League with 49 stolen bases in 2014.

All position players are due to report by Monday. San Francisco’s first spring training game is Tuesday, March 3 versus the Oakland Athletics. The 36-game Cactus League schedule runs through Saturday, April 4. The SF Giants open the regular season on Monday, April 6 at Arizona.