SF Giants Press Clips Monday, March 20, 2017
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SF Giants Press Clips Monday, March 20, 2017 San Francisco Chronicle Giants top prospects Arroyo, Beede sent to minors Henry Schulman SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Infielder Christian Arroyo knows how to make an exit. Told in the morning he would be reassigned to minor-league camp, Arroyo waved goodbye loudly in the ninth inning of Sunday's 6-4 loss to the Brewers. He blasted the only pitch he saw in the game for a no-doubt, opposite-field homer against right-hander Tyler Cravy. "Hopefully I left people here with a smile on their face," Arroyo said as he packed for Indian School Park, where he will prepare for his season, mostly likely at Triple-A Sacramento. Arroyo is the Giants' top hitting prospect. His pitching counterpart, Tyler Beede, also was reassigned. Both first-round picks will go to Sacramento knowing they could make their big-league debuts in 2017. Beede, 23, has a much better shot than Arroyo. Both seem on track for 2018, although the vagaries of baseball sometimes upset the best-laid plans. Arroyo did not mash in the Cactus League. The homer was his fifth hit and only extra-base hit in 18 at-bats. He got an extra week in big-league camp because of Brandon Crawford's trip to the World Baseball Classic and used it wisely, working with bench coach Ron Wotus and special 1 assistants Will Clark and Ellis Burks, while picking Jimmy Rollins' brain. Arroyo would have been happy with his spring even without the homer. "This is my third camp," he said. "I think they've seen what I can do at as a player. Now it's a matter of getting reps, staying consistent and getting at-bats." Whether he plays second, third or short this year remains unknown. It depends on the makeup of the Triple-A roster. Arroyo has heeded the organization's advice to "stay versatile." Beede's spring did yield great results. He lowered his ERA to 0.96 with two shutout innings against the Brewers. Beede "absolutely" believes he is ready for the majors if summoned, saying, "Mentally, I'm ready to go and prepared." Although Beede will start for the Giants eventually, manager Bruce Bochy said he could debut in the bullpen, filling a potential team need while limiting the right-hander's innings to save some bullets for September and October if he is asked to be this year's Ty Blach. Pence struggling: Right fielder Hunter Pence was blunt about his hitting this spring. "I've got to get better," Pence said after three hitless at-bats left him with a .125 average. He is 3-for-31 since he doubled in his first Cactus League at-bat. The reason is simple. His timing is off and he has not been able to fix it. Pence, ever the optimist, said spring training is a "gold mine" because players have so much down time to work behind the scenes to solve their issues. "Usually it takes one good at-bat," he said. "It takes one good day to get hot, and then you ride that streak. "I definitely don't want to feel like this when the season starts I know that." 2 Pence is not alone. Others riding the "interstate" include Denard Span (.161), Gorkys Hernandez (.121) and Jimmy Rollins (.103). Their ally is time. Opening Day is two weeks away. Bochy acknowledged several hitters are "searching" and could get extra at-bats in minor-league games. Briefly: The Giants made two additional cuts, reassigning left-hander Kraig Sitton to minor- league camp and optioning utilityman Orlando Calixte to Triple-A Sacramento. Forty-two players remain in big-league camp. Third baseman Jae-gyun Hwang played a day after taking a bad-hop to the head during practice. He was held out of Saturday's game to be checked for concussion symptoms. Bochy said Steven Okert has done "all he can" to win a left-handed relief job. Okert has not allowed a run in six Cactus League outings. Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected]: @hankschulman Brewers 6, Giants 4 Notable: Jeff Samardzija got racked for the second straight start, allowing six runs in four-plus innings, including back-to-back homers. In his past two starts, Samardzija has allowed 13 runs (11 earned) on 17 hits in 7 2/3 innings. Samardzija did strike out Scooter Gennett, Eric Thames and Travis Shaw in order Sunday. Zack Davies, the Brewers' No. 2 starter, retired the first 12 Giants before Brandon Belt opened the fifth with a single. Quotable: "I know a lots at stake here, but we've got to be smart about this. I don't want Mac to come out here and be a hero when he's not ready to go." -- Manager Bruce Bochy on outfield candidate Mac Williamson, who has a minor, but ill-timed left quadriceps injury. Monday's game: Giants vs. White Sox, at Glendale, 1:05 p.m. RADIO: sfgiants.com. 3 San Francisco Chronicle Giants’ Denard Span eyes better year after an ice-free offseason John Shea SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Life is good when baseball players can do baseball things in the offseason. Such as hit and run and hit some more. As opposed to ice and rehab and ice some more. Life is good for Denard Span, who seems to be approaching the 2017 season like it’s 2014. In fact, the Giants’ center fielder and leadoff hitter said the offseason was free of rehab for the first time since the offseason leading into the 2014 season. That 2014 season happened to be one of the best in Span’s career. With the Washington Nationals, he hit .302 with a .355 on-base percentage, a league-leading 184 hits, 94 runs and 31 steals. The 2015 season was a step backward as Span underwent three surgeries and was limited to 61 games. The Giants signed him afterward for hree years and $31 million, and he didn’t exactly play to his standards in his debut season in San Francisco. “It wasn’t easy not playing up to my capabilities at times,” Span said. “Not being able to do the things I’ve been able to do throughout my career. That was difficult coming to a new team with a new fan base, not being able to showcase my whole skill set. “The year prior, it seemed every time something bothered me, something surgically needed to be done. Psychologically, it was difficult having three surgeries in a nine- or-10-month span. Coming off hip surgery, I didn’t trust my hip. I didn’t trust my legs. “Fast forward to last year, it took me a while to trust that I was strong and OK. I didn’t have a full offseason. I know what it takes, how much goes into an offseason, how much goes into preparation when you’re fully healthy to have a successful season. 4 “For me not to have that, I felt I was behind the eightball. I never tried to use it as an excuse. I tried to do my best.” Span, 33, played 143 games last season and stayed off the disabled list, but his numbers were down across the board from 2014, except home runs — he hit a career-high 11. He felt better physically as the season progressed and hit .287 in the second half (compared with .248 before the All-Star break) and .356 in his final 45 at-bats. The offseason was a delight, and not just because he got married in January, to Anne Schleper, a hockey player who won a silver medal with the U.S. women’s team in the 2014 Olympics. Span spent time conditioning for baseball, not rehabbing from surgery. “I feel 10 times better coming into camp than I did last year,” Span said. “I can’t predict the future, but I can say how I feel right now, and I feel good. I predict that it will be a good season for me.” Regaining his stroke at the end of 2016 was a momentum boost heading into the offseason and 2017. “I feel like I’m up to speed with everybody else at this time of year,” Span said. “I feel I’m on track. It’s a good feeling not being hurt.” The spring training numbers aren’t good (.161 in 31 at-bats), but more important is being in a groove for Opening Day on April 2. Span opened Saturday’s game with an infield single and scored on Joe Panik’s double, and he later tripled to drive in a run. He’s also looking better in center field. “The main thing was getting back to my mind-set before I was hurt and remembering the player I was — and still am,” Span said. “It’s not past tense.” Setting the table 5 Denard Span’s year-by-year offensive statistics: Year Team G OBP SBRuns 2008Twins 93 .38718 70 2009Twins 145.39223 97 2010Twins 153.33126 85 2011Twins 70 .328 6 37 2012Twins 128.34217 71 2013Nationals 153.32720 75 2014Nationals 147.35531 94 2015Nationals 61 .36511 38 2016Giants 143.33112 70 6 San Francisco Chronicle Giants’ Samardzija hit hard for second straight outing Henry Schulman SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Starter Jeff Samardzija revealed he was "real close" to joining the U.S. squad for the final round of the World Baseball Classic, but he and the Giants decided against it because his pitching schedule would not align with the tournament's.