SF Giants Press Clips Tuesday, March 28, 2017

San Francisco Chronicle Giants’ lineup takes shape on 14-run afternoon Henry Schulman

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — For the final Cactus League home game Monday, Giants manager constructed a fair preview for .

Brandon Belt batted second behind Denard Span, with , and at three, four and five. Aaron Hill batted sixth as a place-holder for Eduardo Nuñez, and was seventh, which was fine with him.

“I’ve got some protection behind me,” he said with a smile. That was , who batted eighth, ahead of Gorkys Hernandez hitting ninth in the Jarrett Parker spot.

That group had a field day in a 14-2 victory over the Reds. The Giants pinned 10 runs on left-handed starter Cody Reed, who had been having a nice spring.

Bochy has not had a chance to tinker with batting orders because Posey and Crawford were at the World Baseball Classic for more than two weeks. Bochy is experimenting now, with Sunday’s season opener quickly approaching.

“You look at the two guys at the top of the order: They’re on-base guys. The numbers show that,” Bochy said. “You’ve got experienced guys in the heart of the order with Pence, Buster and Craw. Look at what Craw is doing. You want him in that spot.

“Going down the order, you’ve got power there with Parker versus right-handers. Panik’s another good hitter. Some days, you’ll see the pitcher hitting eighth. Sometimes, you won’t. Nuñez is a guy I could move around more.”

Nuñez could lead off against left-handed pitchers, particularly when Span is off.

Fitting Parker is the challenge. The least experienced players often hit eighth, but that is a tough spot even for an older player because the opposing pitcher often nibbles. Furthermore, Bochy is not keen about wasting potential power in the eighth spot and would like protection behind Parker.

1

“I will say that it forces the hitter to be more of a thinker, being in the eight hole,” Bochy said. “It made Crawford a better hitter.”

So, Parker could hit ninth when the pitcher bats eighth.

Parker started well this spring but has fallen into an old trap. He struck out for the 12th time in 18 at- bats Monday, batting for Bumgarner, before hitting a sacrifice fly in his second plate appearance.

Bochy expects Parker to struggle at times as an everyday player and acknowledged that Parker is “fighting it” in these last days of spring.

The fear is a loss of confidence and over-thinking. Parker knows that and said he is not there.

“That’s the game of baseball. Everybody has struggles,” he said. “I haven’t felt the way I’ve wanted to. I’ve been working on things. I’m taking it as a positive that today I got into a two-strike count, battled and got a sacrifice fly.”

The biggest of the Giants’ 15 hits might have been Pence’s two-run double. Pence was 7-for-49 (including the exhibition game against Puerto Rico) when he hit it. The team has to hope that hit will set him on a track toward improvement, because the time for rehearsal is all but over.

Bumgarner, Panik hit: Bumgarner completed a great spring with seven innings against the Reds, or, more accurately, the Triple-A Louisville Bats. He allowed two runs and struck out nine and finished with a 2.52 ERA in seven starts covering 25 innings. Those two earned runs were the only ones he surrendered over his final 20 innings.

Bumgarner also took Hernan Iribarren’s line drive off his left thigh, providing a brief scare, but continued after a visit from head athletic trainer Dave Groeschner without throwing a practice pitch.

Panik had X-rays on his right shoulder blade after being hit by a pitch in the second inning. They were negative, and he said he could play if this were the regular season.

Giants 14, Reds 2

Notable: Two struggling Giants who likely will make the Opening Day roster, Gorkys Hernandez and Aaron Hill, each had three hits. Hernandez hit three doubles after going to minor-league camp twice to get extra at-bats. Hill had a double and two singles. They entered the game hitting .159 and .200, respectively. … The Giants knocked out Cincinnati starter Cody Reed with a seven-run fourth inning that included a two-run Hunter Pence double and two-run Jae-gyun Hwang homer. … Buster Posey hit a double on his 30th birthday. … Closer Mark Melancon pitched his 10th scoreless inning of the spring.

Quotable: “I feel like I’m as ready as I can be to start the season. Granted, they call it ‘midseason form’ for a reason, and I’m not there yet. But I’m definitely happy with how I’m leaving the spring.”

— Madison Bumgarner, who allowed two runs over seven innings in his final spring game.

Tuesday’s game: Giants vs. Cubs, at Mesa, 1:05 p.m.

2

San Francisco Chronicle Giants season preview: Get the ball to Melancon, please Henry Schulman

Buying an expensive glass vase and resting it on a rickety table would make no sense. If the legs collapse, the vase shatters.

As the Giants open the 2017 season at Arizona on Sunday, their hopes of ending a two-year championship “drought” could hinge on the success of their four-year, $62 million centerpiece: Mark Melancon.

But what good is a closer like Melancon if the relievers who pitch before him cannot preserve a lead?

The Giants’ 30 blown saves and pedestrian 28-27 record in one-run games last year cannot be lain totally before the feet of now-departed closer Santiago Casilla. The end of the Core Four era was marked by a total bullpen breakdown.

How to divide the blame among the pitchers and manager Bruce Bochy for how he used them is worthy of debate. However, when the season ended with five relievers blowing a three-run, ninth-inning lead in Game 4 of the Division Series against the Cubs, the front office did not debate what to do next.

They pursued Melancon with a bounty hunter’s zeal and, just as significantly, did not spend any free- agent dollars on another reliever. Instead, the Giants are placing their faith in what general manager Bobby Evans calls his “young core,” which includes many perpetrators of the 2016 collapse.

THE GIANTS IN 2017

Projected lineup

Denard Span, CF: The 33-year-old center fielder is moving well on base and in the field, but he must outhit his numbers from 2016, his first year with the club.

Joe Panik, 2B: Panik swung a sharp bat in and looks to surpass .300 again after last year's concussion-altered season.

Buster Posey, C: His power decline is stultifying. But he remains the most formidable hitter in this lineup. He had a down year overall in 2016, his OPS falling below .800. If he has another, questions about moving to first base will amplify.

Hunter Pence, RF: Once an iron man, Pence played in only 158 games combined the past two seasons. One could argue his health and production impact the offense more than any other player because he is hard to replace.

Brandon Belt, 1B: A .394 on-base percentage last year made him a darling of the stats community. But he knows he needs to produce more runs to take his place among the game's elite hitters.

Brandon Crawford, SS: After driving in 84 runs in each of the past two seasons, who would be surprised if he rises in this lineup?

3

Eduardo Nuñez, 3B: The Giants would take his combined Twins-Giants numbers from 2016 in a heartbeat. He hit 16 homers and stole 40 bases. He will lead off against lefties, and maybe righties if Span struggles again.

Jarrett Parker, LF: The 28-year-old earned this job by learning discipline at the plate. How that translates for a full season is the majors is the big question.

Projected rotation

Madison Bumgarner, LH: Coming off a 251-strikeout season, is 2017 the year he finally challenges for the Cy Young Award?

Johnny Cueto, RH: Fans have nightmares about Cueto opting out of his contract after the season. If it happens, he probably had another great year.

Matt Moore, LH: The sky's the limit in his first full year as a Giant if he keeps his walks down. A big-game pitcher and a Dodger-slayer.

Jeff Samardzija, RH: Everyone knows what the Shark will give them. A few ace-quality starts, a few abysmal games, lots of strikeouts, lots of homers and lots of innings.

Matt Cain, RH: Likely his farewell season. The question is, how many starts will he get to say goodbye if he does not improve markedly?

Evans did not deny that money was a factor. He said the choice was pursuing a big-time closer and not spending on the rest of the bullpen, or bypassing the big-ticket ninth-inning man and spreading that money among several lesser pitchers.

“You’re always assessing the value of your external options and the value of your internal options, and the relative cost,” Evans said. But he expressed faith in the relatively inexperienced relievers he has.

“You don’t go with guys like that if you don’t believe in them,” he said.

The “young core” features right-handers , Derek Law and Cory Gearrin, with left- handers Josh Osich, Steven Okert and Will Smith. “Grandpa” George Kontos, at 31, is the longest- tenured Giants reliever.

Smith was to have a large setup role, so one cannot downplay his loss for the season to Tommy John surgery.

Whether they form a sturdy table that supports Melancon, or one of those cheap card tables with the four folding legs, will factor significantly into the Giants’ win-loss record.

And they know it.

“Now that we have Melancon, it’s understood that we better get the ball to him,” Law said.

4

Law is a strong candidate to be the principal setup man. The 26-year-old right-hander had an excellent rookie season that could have been better if not for a dead arm that landed him on the disabled list at the beginning of September. Like others in the bullpen, Law was asked to pitch a lot — 61 times — in an environment far less controlled than the minors.

Law hopes to pace himself better in pregame and between-game throwing this year, having learned from a master like recently retired Core Four reliever Javier Lopez.

Strickland also will have an important role after pitching in a career-high 72 games last year.

From the left side, Okert’s great spring elevated his stock, but the more interesting development is Ty Blach as a potential setup man to cover the innings the Giants lose with Smith out.

All of the relievers had their hiccups in key situations in a 2016 season defined by bullpen failure. Strickland had five blown saves; Gearrin and Kontos three apiece. The bullpen was 25-24, which reflects the team’s struggles in close games.

Then, in Game 4 against the Cubs, the season reached its logical conclusion when Law, Lopez, , Smith and Strickland let the Cubs score four ninth-inning runs to blow a three-run lead.

The fans knew that was an awful way for the Giants to slink into the winter. Imagine how the relievers felt.

“It was a bitter end to the season,” Law said. “You read the stuff. You hear what people are saying. It kind of fuels the fire a little bit, and you want to prove them wrong.”

Management has asked a fan base embittered by that ending to have faith that 2017 will be different. Not only is Melancon present, but setup roles will be better defined and fewer relief innings should be needed with a stronger rotation. The young core will develop with another season of experience, and there should better bullpen management from Bochy now that he knows the pitchers better.

The stuff is there.

“They see what we can do,” Law said, referring to management. “All of us have had those spurts where we’re unhitable. It’s just being consistent, and they know that we can do that as a group.

“You’re not going to replace the Core Four, all that experience and the World Series rings, but if you can start something up again, that’s kind of what we’re hoping for.”

Giants breakdown

Hitting: The Theory holds that a team that pitches can win the West if it scores an average of four runs per game. That's 648 for the season. Last year's lineup scored 715 without full years from Hunter Pence or mid-season acquisition Eduardo Nuñez. A relatively healthy offense should score 700.

Rotation: The Giants have one of the best in the majors, challenging the Mets for supremacy. Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Matt Moore are formidable. , inconsistent as he might be,

5

is a pretty good fourth starter. Ty Blach and Tyler Beede are on deck and in the hole if Matt Cain's season turns ugly.

Bullpen: Therein lies the rub, as Shakespeare said. No question this unit is better with Mark Melancon closing, but anyone who claims to know how well the other seven relievers will perform is guessing. Will Smith's loss to Tommy John surgery does not help.

Bench: As usual, the Giants will pick a bench with defense in mind, although Michael Morse would be on the team for potential power alone. Conor Gillaspie is a fine backup at third and pinch-hitter. With catcher Nick Hundley, the Giants gain hitting and lose defense. The Giants rarely have the scariest bench. Last year they had four pinch homers, compared to 17 for the league-leading Cardinals.

San Jose Mercury News Kawakami: How Giants’ future suddenly is colored by this ‘Cubs Era’ Tim Kawakami

There was a lot of heavy stuff going on during that dramatic game last Oct. 11 at AT&T Park.

A lot of significance right then, maybe a lot more consequence into the extended future for two powerful franchises, literally passing in the night.

Obviously and urgently, there was the Giants’ bullpen trying — and failing, utterly — to close out the ninth inning of Game 4 of the NLDS.

Directly and immediately, it was the end of the Giants’ season, and their even-year magic, when the bullpen gave up a 5-2 lead and the Cubs moved onto the NLCS with a 6-5 victory.

For history’s sake, this was about the Cubs grinding through the postseason to ultimately end their 108- year championship drought.

And now, a few months later, from the Giants’ long-term perspective, that series, game and inning feel like the beginning of something larger than anything the Giants have had to face since their three-title run began in 2010.

Basically, what the Giants (and all other teams) are looking at now: The dawning of a potential Cubs Era in the National League and baseball as a whole.

Which might not be too fun for anybody else, especially including the team that got used to winning World Series championships every other year.

This doesn’t mean Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner and Bruce Bochy can’t lead the Giants to another title this season or the next few seasons; they still have a great manager, some great players, a lot of money, and an aggressive front office.

But it will be geometrically more difficult now that the Cubs are established and aiming for more, and it all shifted with that blown ninth inning, because …

6

• The Cubs handed the Giants their first playoff elimination in the Bochy-Posey-Bumgarner period.

In October, from 2010-on, the Giants knew that if they just stayed alive in a series, they’d find a way to outlast the opponent. You know: “Championship blood.”

Until last October.

• The Cubs are young, strong, minting money and run by very smart people — and seem like a franchise poised to go on a big run.

They’re like what the Dodgers want to be.

• Oh, and there are the Dodgers, too, who have all that money and now finally look like they’re about to build something lasting.

• This is happening while the Giants’ core pieces are aging a bit and there are no indications that a new superstar bunch is waiting in the wings.

Yes, it’s a little bit of a table-turner for the Giants, who have been the younger, hungrier postseason team for much of the last decade.

The Giants knocked off the powerhouse (but aging) Phillies in 2010, beat St. Louis a couple of times and experienced this golden period while the Dodgers were in a dull period.

But the Giants never won more than 94 games in any of those seasons, and though Washington seemed like a potential rising mini-dynasty, that still hasn’t happened (and may never).

After October, the Cubs do feel like a budding mini- or maximum-dynasty — they won 103 games last season, most in the majors since St. Louis won 105 in 2004 (and then the Cardinals got swept in the World Series by Boston).

For instance, 2016 NL MVP Kris Bryant is 25, Anthony Rizzo is 27, Addison Russell 23, and Kyle Schwarber, Willson Contreras and Javy Baez are 24.

In addition, the Chicago front office has the brainpower, will and money to fill whatever void necessary, such as the move to sign closer Wade Davis last offseason.

Comparatively, Posey turns 30 this month, Hunter Pence is 33, Brandon Crawford is 30, new-addition Mark Melancon will be 32 this month, Johnny Cueto is 31 and can opt-out of his contract this season, and the Giants finally had to re-do the back end of their bullpen.

Bumgarner is still only 27 but will be coming up on a monster contract soon enough.

This is not just a day-to-day challenge for the Giants, it’s an existential threat.

I’m sure all of the franchise’s top officials understand it.

7

I don’t think it changes how they approach this season — they’re good enough to take another swing at Chicago, for sure, and they almost had the Cubs last season.

But it probably filters into how the Giants plan for 2018, 2019 and beyond, and how they value 2017, as maybe one of their last chances to maximize the Posey/Bumgarner era just as the Cubs begin to flex their muscles.

Nobody should think that the Giants’ window has officially closed, but what happens if the Cubs just slam it shut themselves?

San Jose Mercury News Even Brandon Crawford’s mom isn’t sure about the hair Andrew Baggarly

Here are five things you probably know about Giants Brandon Crawford:

• He’s a two-time Gold Glove winner. He’s the first Giant to win a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger in the same season (in 2015) since Barry Bonds (in 1997). He owns a pair of World Series rings, made an All- Star appearance and he represented Team USA as the starting shortstop in the World Baseball Classic.

• He went to Foothill High in Pleasanton and then to UCLA, and he grew up a huge Giants fan. His family even traveled to spring training games. He learned to keep score when he was 5 years old. Somewhere around that time, he told his parents that he’d be the Giants’ shortstop when he got older. He should be the San Francisco era franchise leader in games played at the position long before his six-year contract expires after the 2021 season.

• Cool things seem to happen to him. He’s the only shortstop in baseball history to hit a grand slam in a postseason game. Last year, he became the first major league player since 1975, and the sixth in modern history, to collect seven hits in a game.

• He’s the most valuable defensive player in baseball, by some measures. He led all major league players in Defensive Runs Saved Above Average. His Ultimate Zone Rating was the best among all major league , and the highest among defensive players at any position in the National League.

• He has fantastic hair.

Here are five things you probably didn’t know about Brandon Crawford, with insights from his mother, Lynn:

• He’s pretty much the best big brother ever. He was 11 when Jenna, the youngest of his three little sisters, was born, and he realized how tough it was going to be on his parents, so he and a friend (whose mom was also having a baby) signed up for a local babysitting class.

“A lot of the girls in our town would take the class in the summer so they could get babysitting jobs to make a little money,” Lynn Crawford said. “He and his friend just decided to do it to help their moms. They just wanted to be helpful.”

8

Learning to change diapers wasn’t hard. Actually, that was the easy part. But when his sisters got older, and he had to share a bathroom with them? Now that was a test of patience.

When Brandon left home to attend UCLA, he found a way to soften an otherwise emotional farewell.

“He’d make these music CDs for his three sisters, very specific for each of them, and leave it on their beds,” Lynn said. “He’d do that every time he’d leave for the semester. He was doing that long before he was the disc jockey in the Giants clubhouse.”

• He’s curious about the world, which is a nice way of saying that he’s a geography nerd. He won an award for a geography competition in grade school. Even when he was 3 years old, sitting in a car seat, he’d recite the next turn or blurt out when he noticed his mother had gone a different way.

No wonder he has such terrific spatial awareness on the Giants infield.

“He can tell you where everything is in the world,” Lynn said. “If he’s not sure, he’s looking it up on his phone. He was always curious and soaking up everything. His interest in geography and history are a couple of the reasons he loves to travel.”

Brandon and his wife, Jalynne, went straight from Joe Panik’s wedding in New York to a safari in South Africa this past offseason. Former Giants Gary Brown and his wife, Lindsay, went with them. They had such a great time with their safari guide that they invited him to visit them in the Bay Area.

• Now that he’s a father, he’s just as happy being a homebody as a world traveler. He’s not much for your stereotypical ballplayer pursuits. He doesn’t hunt or fish, and his golf clubs see action maybe twice a year.

“People ask me what I do away from the field,” he said, “and I’m like, ‘I’m a dad. I have three kids. When do I have time to do anything else?’ ”

Go on a Giants road trip and you might see your favorite shortstop spending his morning free time at the zoo or the children’s museum toting his young daughters, Braylyn and Jaydyn, and his 1-year-old son, Braxton. Aquariums are popular destinations, too. And then there’s Disneyland, which truth be told …

“I mean, when you have a few days off during the season, Disneyland really isn’t at the top of your list,” he said. “We go on the little kid rides for the most part, which is fine with me. They’re having a good time, so …”

That go-with-the-flow mantra is pretty standard when it comes to his home life. Take a quick spin through Jalynne’s Instagram page, and you’ll see Brandon dressed like a pirate for Halloween, wearing matching footie pajamas on Christmas morning or holding one of their two toy dogs, which also might be wearing matching pajamas.

“I’ve always taken pictures, so he’s used to it,” Lynn said. “Brandon is his own person, and if he doesn’t want to do something, he’ll be stubborn about it. But usually, it’s, ‘Just smile. It takes less time.’”

9

His daughters might be too young for music mixes. So when he left for spring training on Valentine’s Day, he gave them red roses.

• There’s only one situation when Brandon’s own mother admits she might not root for him. That’s because one other major league player is close to her heart.

Brandon’s oldest sister, Amy, followed him to UCLA to play softball and started dating future No. 1 overall pick Gerrit Cole. They got married in the offseason. , who became close friends with Gerrit in Pittsburgh, was among the guests in attendance.

Lynn admits it’s not easy to watch her son step in the batter’s box against her son-in-law (he’s 2 for 12 against him, by the way). The 2014 NL Wild Card Game at Pittsburgh, which Brandon helped to win with that aforementioned grand slam, would’ve been really awkward if it had come against her daughter’s betrothed.

“We love keeping track of Gerrit, and I want him to do well, but just not against Brandon,” Lynn said. “Maybe … if he’s got a no-hitter going, then OK, we’ll give him that game.”

• Not everyone loves that fantastic hair.

“I just want him to cut it,” Lynn said. “The only grief I’ve ever gotten from him is about his hair. It’s the only thing that makes me go, ‘Brandon, what are you doing?’ ”

It spills out the back of his cap. It gets pulled back into a barista’s man bun off the field. He introduced Johnny B. Mode gel to the clubhouse, and now half his teammates are obsessed with it. But once he’s done applying product, he’s gliding up the middle to take away a base hit or turning the smooth pivot on a double play or knocking a double off the arcade.

Watching it never gets old for Lynn Crawford.

But you knew that.

“The contract, the best thing about it for me, was the no-trade clause,” said the most proud baseball mom in the Bay Area. “It’s awesome. He’ll be here for at least a great deal of his career. He’s so close to us. We didn’t even have to change our colors. How lucky we are?

“Does it ever get old? Absolutely not. We are so blessed, so super blessed.”

San Jose Mercury News Bay Area flamethrowers: These rising Giants, A’s know how to top out the gun Daniel Brown

A’s right-hander Frankie Montas throws more than 100 mph, but you’d never know that by watching his delivery. “It looks nice and easy, like he’s just playing catch,” manager Bob Melvin said. “And the ball is screaming in there.”

Montas is part of a new wave of flamethrowers on the Bay Area horizon. Here are other names for your radar (guns). Mph readings are from Baseball America unless otherwise noted.

10

GIANTS

MELVIN ADON

Fastball: 100 mph

Opening Day age: 22

Throws: Right

Height: 6-3 Weight: 195

2016 highlights: 5.48 ERA in 67.1 IP, with 55 K and 34 walks for short-season Northwest League.

Scouting report: Being developed as a starter but remains a work in progress. One scout told Josh Norris of Baseball America: “He’s got crazy velocity, but he’s all over the place.” Also throws a sharp slider.

RAY BLACK

Fastball: 104 mph*

Opening Day age: 26

Throws: Right

Height: 6-5 Weight: 225

2016 highlights: 4.88 ERA in 31.1 innings, with 53 strikeouts and 32 walks for Double-A Richmond.

Scouting report: With a pitch deemed the “most explosive fastball in the minors” by MLB.com, Black has been tearing through the lower minors. Over a 1-2-3 inning in the Fall Stars game last season, his velocity readings looked like this: 99, 98, 100, 99, 100, 101, 84, 99.

REYES MORONTA

Fastball: 100 mph

Opening Day age: 24

Throws: Right

Height: 6-0 Weight: 175

2016 highlights: 2.59 ERA in 59.0 innings with 93 strikeouts and 20 walks for San Jose

Scouting report: One scout from 2080baseball.com pegs Moronta this way: “Explodes out of hand, jumping on hitters extremely quickly. Can have late arm-side bore. Inconsistent release point and has trouble locating to glove side of the plate; mainly middle in.”

11

RODOLFO MARTINEZ

Fastball: 103 mph

Opening Day age: 22

Throws: Right

Height: 6-2 Weight: 178

2016 season: 0.88 ERA with 30.2 IP, 33 strikeouts, 10 walks at San Jose.

Scouting report: Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2013, when he was 19, the hard-thrower racked up 24 saves last season (21 at San Jose). Besides mph, his heater has movement. “I don’t think he’s ever quite sure what it’s going to do,” San Jose pitching coach Mike Couchee told MiLB.com. “It sinks. It cuts occasionally.”

San Jose Mercury News Giants notes: A big change as Bruce Bochy’s lineup takes shape, etc. Andrew Baggarly

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – There is no mystery about the names in the Giants’ opening day lineup. They’ve been known for weeks.

Ordering them is another matter, and Manager Bruce Bochy’s lineup card in Monday afternoon’s exhibition game against the Reds might be the closest version to the one he’ll submit for Sunday’s lid lifter against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

CF Denard Span

1B Brandon Belt

RF Hunter Pence

C Buster Posey

SS Brandon Crawford

3B Aaron Hill

2B Joe Panik

P Madison Bumgarner

LF Gorkys Hernandez

12

Trade out Hernandez for Eduardo Nuñez, whose sore shoulder should allow him to return to the field on Thursday, and Hill for left fielder Jarrett Parker, and that could be the lineup that Bochy sends against the Diamondbacks’ Zack Greinke in the opener.

The standard disclaimers apply: Lineups are as ephemeral as the paper they’re written upon. They change as players get hot and cool down. They will differ against left-handed starting pitchers. Nuñez, especially, is one player Bochy plans to move around in the order.

But there are a few interesting takeaways here:

–Bochy has signaled that he plans to go with Belt, not Panik, in the No.2 spot. It’s an ideal fit for Belt, whose .395 on-base percentage ranked fifth in the NL last year.

–Posey will begin the season as the cleanup batter. Bochy used to be a firm believer that the best hitter in your lineup should hit third. That’s why he often tried to get Barry Bonds to move up from the cleanup spot. The Giants should have enough threats lower in the lineup to hit Posey third, and guarantee him an at-bat in the first inning. But Bochy also is familiar with the research that shows the No.3 spot isn’t necessarily the high-impact spot that he had assumed it to be. The research jibes with what Bonds always told him: he felt he had more opportunities to see strikes and do damage as a cleanup batter.

–Here’s the most significant change from past years: Posey’s protection is going to come from Crawford, not Pence. Bochy remarked on Crawford’s continued growth as a hitter, which was on display again in the World Baseball Classic. Moving up Crawford to fifth also will help Bochy break up the left-handed bats lower in the order. He’ll have five lefty swingers in the opening day lineup.

–Pence could benefit from hitting in front of Posey. Nobody could benefit more from a fast start, but Pence is batting .149 this spring. It’s easy to imagine him pressing if he follows up that spring with a rough April. This is a guy who cares so much, it works to his detriment. Because he missed so much time on the DL the past two seasons, he wanted badly to make an impact when he returned to the lineup. He ended up swinging at everything and getting himself out. Perhaps hitting in front of Posey will result in more fastballs for Pence, and a better chance at some early success that could boost his confidence. And make no mistake: Pence is a huge, huge, HUGE key for this lineup. Posey can’t be the only right-handed threat capable of driving in runs somewhere in the middle of the order.

–Yes, the pitcher could hit eighth sometimes. Bochy liked pairing two speed guys in the ninth spot followed by the leadoff man. He started last year with Angel Pagan ninth but had to abandon it because of injuries to Pence and Panik. The personnel won’t always allow it to happen, but Bochy would like to see that double dose of speed again at times this season. It’s most likely to happen when Bumgarner starts against a right-hander.

–Parker will hit down in the order, but not directly in front of the pitcher, where he’d tend to see a lot of offspeed junk. But acknowledged that hitting in that spot forces the hitter to be more of a thinker in the box, knowing they will be pitched around in some situations. He said the experience made Crawford a better hitter, for instance. But ideally, you don’t want a power hitter to hit in front of the pitcher. Also, because Parker will walk a fair amount, Bochy wants to have another position player ready to follow him in the on-deck circle.

13

–“I’ll go as they go.” Count on Bochy saying that 100 times this season. That goes for deciding which of his five lefty hitters he rests against a left-handed pitcher. That goes for the leadoff spot if Span struggles. That also goes for Pence, who most certainly won’t continue to hit third if he’s batting under the Mendoza line. If the lineup isn’t producing, it’ll change.

—

Perhaps it was the unrest in Venezuela or the desire to train in Arizona, but Gorkys Hernandez didn’t play winter ball this past offseason. It’s the first time since he was a teenager that he didn’t participate.

No wonder, then, that it took him so long to get his timing at the plate. He was batting a soft .159 entering Monday, and had gone down to minor league camp a couple times to lead off every inning and load up on at-bats.

It appears to have paid off. Hernandez went 3 for 5 with three doubles in the 14-2 exhibition victory over the Reds – a most welcome sight both for himself and the Giants, who might be less apt to pursue additional center field help on the trade market.

“No question, it helped him,” Bochy said. “He was out in front. His timing was off. The at-bats paid off in this game.”

Hernandez, 29, didn’t have any real competition in this camp to become a right-handed hitting version of as the fourth outfielder. Nobody else here was capable of playing at least average defense in center field on an everyday basis in the event that Span went down with an injury.

But you never know what can shake loose from other camps.

Hernandez, a former top prospect with the Tigers and Braves, has never stood on the chalk line for introductions on opening day. He probably secured his place Monday.

“I feel I’m timing every pitch now,” he said. “It happens. You sometimes feel late. You don’t feel comfortable in the box. Now, I feel better. I try to keep it simple.”

Blanco, who was trying to make the Diamondbacks roster, strained an oblique and was released by the club on Monday. Because he’s left-handed and the Giants need a right-handed complement for Span and Parker, it’s unlikely that the Giants would make any effort to bring back Blanco now.

They need Hernandez to be a right-handed version of Blanco, which is no small task given his understated but important contributions in four seasons as an oft-used fourth outfielder.

“I’ll try to do the same or even better,” Hernandez said.

—

Second baseman Joe Panik exited after three innings after being hit by a pitch on the right scapula and was diagnosed with a contusion after precautionary X-rays ruled out a fracture.

14

Panik was sore because the pitch hit him more or less on the shoulder blade, and he probably won’t play in Tuesday’s Cactus League finale. He had no concerns about missing any time beyond that, though.

—

Third baseman Jae-gyun Hwang has not stopped impressing all spring. He hit his fifth and also lined a bases-loaded single to boost his Cactus League average to .349.

Although some fans will clamor for Hwang to begin with the big league club, the Giants are interested in developing him further and having him play more left field and first base to add to his versatility. So he’s expected to accept an assignment to Triple-A Sacramento.

The date to circle is July 1. That is when Hwang could opt out of his contract if he isn’t in the major leagues.

—

Aaron Hill was 3 for 4 with a double, and although all signs point to him breaking with the team, more dust will settle on Tuesday. If he remains with the Giants, he’ll receive a $100,000 retention bonus – an amount they would not cede if they didn’t plan on having him on their roster.

—

The final crowd at Scottsdale Stadium this spring had two bonus moments to cheer. Buster Posey celebrated his 30th birthday, and the fans sang for him as he dug into the box for his first at bat.

The fans also cheered Jose Alguacil, who coached first base for the first time since March 6, when he was struck in the face by a foul tip and sustained injuries that required two surgeries.

—

Did Madison Bumgarner wish Posey a happy birthday?

“Aww,” Bumgarner said dismissively. “He’s been 30 for the last seven years.”

San Jose Mercury News Madison Bumgarner “as ready as I can be” heading into Giants’ season opener Andrew Baggarly

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Madison Bumgarner overpowered the Cincinnati Reds in his final tuneup on Monday. He pitched seven innings. He struck out the final three batters he faced.

His next pitch will come in Sunday’s season opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

He looks ready. And in case you were concerned that he harbored any self-doubts, he said he feels ready, too.

15

“As ready as I can be to start the season,” Bumgarner said. “Granted, they call it midseason form for a reason, and we’re not there yet. But I’m definitely happy with how I’ve pitched and how I’m leaving this spring.”

He should be. Bumgarner made seven starts and held posted a 2.52 ERA while holding opponents to 17 hits in 25 innings. He walked five and struck out 23.

Last spring, Bumgarner said he never felt comfortable with his delivery. He was pushed back a bit because of a nerve issue in his foot and a strained rib cage – perhaps from chopping down too many trees on his North Carolina ranch over the winter.

Those spring issues did not carry over into the season. Instead, Bumgarner was even better last year while setting regular-season career highs in innings (226 2/3) and strikeouts (251) while also leading all major leaguers in pitches thrown.

His 251 strikeouts were the most in all-time franchise history for a left-hander, breaking a record that Cy Seymour had held since 1898. He joined Juan Marichal, Christy Mathewson, Amos Rusie and as the only Giants pitchers to record 200 strikeouts in three consecutive seasons. He also became the youngest Giant since Mathewson to win his 100th game.

He finished with a 15-9 record but easily could’ve become the Giants’ first 20-game winner since John Burkett and Bill Swift in 1993. Bumgarner left eight games in line to win before the bullpen blew a lead.

Could Bumgarner’s career peak still be in front of him?

Watching him dominate this spring, it sure looks like a possibility.

“It is, and really, you look at what he’s doing all spring,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “It’s his body of work. That’s what makes him so good. He takes every outing so seriously. His preparation doesn’t waver. He wanted to know where he was with the pitch count today, make sure he got to where he had to be.”

Bumgarner was fourth in the NL Cy Young Award balloting last season — his highest ever placement in the balloting. A top-3 finish would boost his club options in 2018-19 from $12 million to $14 million. Winning the award would escalate them into $16 million options.

Of course, the Giants will try to rip up that deal at some point and negotiate something longer term that is likely to guarantee much, much more to one of the game’s top pitchers.

Bumgarner also was pleased after the 14-2 exhibition victory over the Reds because he drew a walk and singled in two plate appearances. The hit was his first hit of the spring in four at-bats. It was just a single up the middle, but he was excited because it came on a curveball – a pitch he knows he’ll see more often because his ability to turn on fastballs is no secret anymore.

“Saving the power numbers for the season,” he said, smiling.

Perhaps we haven’t seen the best of Bumgarner at the plate, either.

16

Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area Javier Lopez Joins NBC Sports Bay Area's Giants TV Coverage Alex Pavlovic

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Javier Lopez walked through the clubhouse the other day casually flipping a weighted ball into the air. He looked like a left-hander getting ready for another season, and Lopez will in fact spend plenty of time in San Francisco this year. He won’t be on the field, though. He’ll be watching it.

Lopez will join NBC Sports Bay Area as a studio analyst this season, adding to a schedule that also will include a fair amount of time in the booth with Duane Kuiper. The transition is one Lopez has been thinking about for years, and he said he used to do mock broadcasts from the bullpen in order to mix it up and keep his attention on the game.

“It’s something I definitely was considering toward the end of my career,” Lopez said. “Being recently retired and knowing a good amount of the guys that are on this team still, I think it’ll be a different perspective that I’ll be able to give.”

Lopez is the second left-handed reliever and Core Four member to jump into TV work in the first year of retirement. joined the network last season and the two will split the road games that Mike Krukow will miss this season, with Affeldt focusing primarily on NL Central series and Lopez handling most of the East Coast trips.

To prepare, Lopez, who has had two stints in camp as an instructor, has been chatting with former teammates about the intricacies of playing other positions and taking at-bats. He has bounced ideas off players like Buster Posey, but he’s also looking forward to providing the unique perspective of a side- arming left-handed reliever

“Even with the pitching staff, I see things through a different lens than most people,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t learn from everybody.”

Lopez was a clubhouse leader throughout his time with the Giants and he was a co-winner of the Willie Mac Award last season, his seventh in San Francisco. When the postseason was over, Lopez wasn’t sure he would be taking the TV step right away. He made a small list of contenders he would play for in 2017, with a focus on trying to win a fifth ring.

“There were a couple of phases for me in particular,” he said. “I think I was thinking about knowing for sure that I wasn’t going to be a San Francisco Giant again. That was tough, but in another sense, this isn’t my first team that I’ve been on. I know how the business works. They have a lot of hard throwers as they’ve shown this spring and that’s the way that baseball is trending in the bullpen. We knew that the opportunity here wasn’t going to be there, and I was okay with that.

“There were some teams I really wanted to go to and some places that I wanted to play, but ultimately those places started filling up pretty quickly with the relievers. The opportunities were available and I could have played — there were offers out there — but I didn’t see myself in those uniforms. If my heart’s not in it, that’s not a good way to go.”

17

Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area Matt Williams Joins NBC Sports Bay Area's Giants TV Coverage Alex Pavlovic

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — It has been 30 years since Matt Williams broke into the big leagues with the Giants, and he has been back many times in recent seasons as an opposing player, coach and manager. When the Giants play their home opener on April 10, Williams will once again be affiliated with them, this time in a new role.

Williams will join NBC Sports Bay Area this season as a studio analyst for the pre- and post-game shows, which are expanding to one hour. After spending most of the last two decades in various on and off-field roles for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Williams is coming full circle with the Giants.

“It feels like that, doesn’t it?” he said. “I love coaching and managing, but I also enjoy talking about the game and experiencing the game from that angle, which is a lot of fun. I really enjoy it. You get to talk about the intricacies of the game.”

Williams knows it inside and out, and not just because he played 17 seasons for the Giants, Diamondbacks and Indians. He has coached first and third base for the Diamondbacks, most recently during the 2016 season. When the organization retooled the front office in the offseason, changes were made to the coaching staff. Williams has also had a stint as a manager, doing two years with the . He went 179-145, winning the NL Manager of the Year Award in 2014, when the Giants knocked the Nationals out of the postseason in the NLDS.

Williams is best known in San Francisco for 10 strong years on the field. He hit 378 career home runs, 247 of them with the Giants. Williams is a five-time All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger winner and four- time Gold Glove winner, and he finished in the top five in the MVP voting in 1994 and 1999. While Williams was gone by the time a title drought was broken, he does have a ring to wear around the ballpark. He batted .275 with 16 homers for the champion Diamondbacks in 2001.

Williams’ time in Arizona also included color commentary for their television and radio broadcasts, and he said he’s looking forward to working with former Giants players he has coached against, and fellow former coach , who was an NL West rival in the late 1980s.

“During the offseason, this is always one of my favorite cities to visit,” he said. “It’s home. I’ve been in the Bay Area practically my whole life. It’s a fantastic atmosphere in the ballpark with a great fan base, and the Giants’ recent success has been phenomenal.”

The Giants plan on that success carrying over into the odd year, and one of the best infielders in franchise history will be along for the ride.

Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area Giants Spring Training Day 43: A Big Game For Veteran Trying To Lock Up Of Job Alex Pavlovic

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — For the first time, Gorkys Hernandez did not go back to Venezuela in the offseason to play winter ball. He's hoping that leads to another first.

18

Hernandez has never made an opening day roster, but after breaking into the Giants’ outfield rotation last season, he entered the winter in a decent shot. To bolster his case, Hernandez stayed in Scottsdale over the offseason to work out at the minor league facility. The added strength didn’t lead to any notable results over the first month of games, but Hernandez broke through Monday with three doubles in the final home game of the spring.

“Sometimes (slumps) happen and sometimes you’re late (on pitches) and you don’t feel comfortable at the plate, but now I feel different. I feel better,” Hernandez said. “I’m recognizing pitches and trying to keep it simple and not do too much.”

The coaching staff has asked several players to head down to the minor league facility late in the spring and get additional at-bats, and Hernandez took Bruce Bochy up on the offer. He twice played in minor league games, and on Sunday he rotated into different games so he could get six at-bats. Hernandez said that helped him find his timing.

“Without question, it helped his timing,” Bochy said. “He was off. He was getting out front, his timing was off. I think the at-bats he got paid off.”

The three-double day was perfectly timed. Hernandez entered with a .159 average and Justin Ruggiano, the other option as a backup center fielder, had started to put together better at-bats. Monday’s game was a reminder in more ways than one. Hernandez showed off the type of speed the Giants won’t have on the bench if Kelby Tomlinson is optioned, and he played all three outfield positions, switching from left to right to center.

The role in play is one Gregor Blanco had for five seasons. The Giants would like Hernandez to be their defensive whiz at every outfield spot, and they’re light on true center fielders. If the Giants put Hernandez on the roster this week as expected, he’ll be ready to try and be the new Blanco.

“If they give me that role, I’ll try to do the same thing,” he said. “Or better.”

THE ACE: Madison Bumgarner is going to Madison Bumgarner. He threw seven sharp innings Monday, lowering his spring ERA to 2.52. In 25 innings, he has allowed just 17 hits and struck out 23. Bochy appreciated Bumgarner’s intensity Monday against a Reds team that was filled with minor leaguers.

“That’s what makes him so good,” Bochy said. “He takes every outing seriously. His preparation doesn’t waver.”

Bumgarner even added a single, and he liked that it came on a breaking ball. He’s worked on getting better at hitting those pitches, which he’s seeing more and more.

“I feel I’m as ready as I can be to start the season,” Bumgarner said.

His next pitch will be thrown Sunday at Chase Field.

GAME RECAP: The Giants blasted poor Reds starter Cody Reed, hanging 10 runs on his line in 3 2/3 innings. Denard Span had two hits and Aaron Hill had three, driving in three runs. Bochy went with an

19

interesting lineup, leading off with Span, Brandon Belt, Hunter Pence, Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford. He said he likes Crawford in that five-spot. He also plans to hit the pitcher eighth on occasion.

TRAINER’S ROOM: Joe Panik was drilled by a fastball in the lower back and he came out of the game as a precaution. Panik has a nasty welt, so he’s in for a night of ice, but there are no concerns.

QUOTABLE: Posey turned 30 today. As he walked out to stretch, Bumgarner was asked if he was giving Posey a hard time. “No, he’s been 30 for the last seven years,” Bumgarner said.

Fox Sports 2017 preview Lindsey Foltin

LAST SEASON

87-75 (second in NL West, earned second NL wild card, lost to Cubs in NLDS)

WHAT’S NEW

Key additions: RP Mark Melancon (free agent from Nationals), C Nick Hundley (free agent from Rockies), 3B Jae-gyun Hwang (free agent from Korea), SS Jimmy Rollins (free agent from White Sox)

Key subtractions: RP Sergio Romo (free agent to Dodgers), RP Santiago Casilla (free agent to A’s), RP Javier Lopez (retired), SP (free agent), OF Angel Pagan (free agent), OF Gregor Blanco (free agent), SP Chris Heston (trade to Mariners)

032717-MLB-SergioRomo-PI

3 STRIKES

1. They addressed their biggest weakness, and probably aren’t done yet. The Giants had the most blown saves (30) in MLB last season, and lost nine games in which they led in the ninth inning. So it wasn’t much of a surprise when their season ended thanks to a bullpen meltdown of epic proportions — giving up four runs in the ninth inning — during Game 4 of the NLDS. It signaled the end of an era, as the Giants said goodbye to the trio of relievers who played a pivotal role in the team’s three most recent World Series championships — Casilla, Lopez and Romo — and spent some serious cash to rebuild the ‘pen. They found the one thing they’ve been lacking, a surefire closer, in Melancon, whom they signed to a four-year, $62 million deal. With right-handers Derek Law and Hunter Strickland as the primary setup men, the Giants could look to the trade market for a solid lefty relief option now that Will Smith needs Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire 2017 season.

MLB: San Francisco Giants at Philadelphia Phillies

2. The left-field puzzle doesn’t seem to be solved. After letting Angel Pagan walk as a free agent (which was likely a wise decision, considering he is currently still a free agent), the Giants were left with a serious hole to plug in left field. And their current plan is questionable at best. Jarrett Parker will likely get the bulk of the starts after outshining his competition in and Gorkys Hernandez this spring, but the entire outfield situation seems pretty risky. With a declining Denard Span and injury-

20

prone Hunter Pence tabbed to start in center and right, respectively, it’s odd that the Giants didn’t even dabble in the outfield free-agent market this offseason.

MLB: San Francisco Giants at Tampa Bay Rays

3. If all else fails, they can ride their trusty steed to the promised land. Madison Bumgarner is pretty much as close as you can get to a sure thing in baseball. He’s going to give you at least 200 strikeouts and 200 innings in the regular season alone, and he’s going to look really good doing it. Bumgarner went 15-9 with 251 strikeouts and a 2.74 ERA in 226 2/3 innings last season, and he says he feels even better heading into this year. Sure, he’s the ace of the pitching staff, but he’s also the kind of player who is always ready — and willing — to do whatever he can to help the team. Starter, reliever, grand slam- hitter, MadBum does it all — and he hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. As long as he stays healthy, the Giants will be OK.

BEST-CASE SCENARIO

Bumgarner does what Bumgarner does best, while Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija follow closely behind as stellar No. 2 and 3 starters. Pence stays healthy and regains his 2014 form (20+ homers, .277/.332/.445 over 162 games), while Buster Posey continues to dominate as one of the top catchers in the league. And Melancon answers the Giants’ prayers at closer.

WORST-CASE SCENARIO

Melancon can’t get saves if his setup men can’t hold leads. Smith’s injury is a huge blow to the back end of the Giants’ bullpen, and if they fail to acquire a left-handed specialist and their internal options (Josh Osich and Steven Okert) don’t pan out, they’re back to square one.

SURPRISING STAT

With 251 strikeouts last season, Bumgarner became just the fifth pitcher in Giants history to record 200 strikeouts in three straight seasons (only Juan Marichal, Christy Mathewson, Amos Rusie and Tim Lincecum did it before him). He also broke the franchise’s single-season record for most strikeouts by a left-hander.

Lance Iversen/Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports BEST BETS

Projected win total (via Atlantis Casino Resort): 87.5

World Series odds (via Vegas Insider): 14/1

TOP FIVE FANTASY PLAYERS

1. Madison Bumgarner, SP: The Giants’ ace has started 31 or more games for six consecutive seasons. Bumgarner also boasts a sub-3.00 ERA for four consecutive seasons and a K/9 rate north of 9.00 the past three years.

21

2. Johnny Cueto, SP: One of the more reliable and consistent starting pitchers in the league, Cueto provides a 3.00 ERA and 1.10 WHIP with eight or so strikeouts per nine innings. Cueto now also enjoys a pitcher-friendly home ballpark, compared to the sandbox of Great American Ball Park while with the Reds.

3. Buster Posey, C: The catcher’s homer totals have dipped in each of the past two seasons, but he remains one of the most consistent at his position in the game. Posey is a no-risk investment on draft day with the expected stat ceiling.

4. Eduardo Nunez, 3B: At 28 years old, Nunez played a career-high 141 games last season for the Twins and Giants. He finished with 16 homers and 40 stolen bases.

5. Brandon Belt, 1B: He finished in the top 10 in the majors in on-base percentage (.394) last season and continues to flirt with 20-homer potential.

PREDICTION

The Giants will once again fall short of winning the division, but will reach the postseason with a wild- card berth. And they’ll lose to the Cubs in the NLDS, again.

CBS Sports Giants' Brandon Belt: Expected to bat second in order Rotowire Staff

Manager Bruce Bochy has signaled in his Cactus League lineups that he plans to use Belt as his No. 2 hitter to begin the season, Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News reports.

While Belt has yet to emerge as the consistent 20-plus-homer threat the Giants probably envisioned early on during his time in the big leagues, he's been an on-base machine throughout his six seasons with the team. After posting a career-best .394 mark in 2016, Belt's presence in the two hole in front of Hunter Pence, Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford would seemingly help his chances of establishing a new career high in runs, though he could sacrifice some RBI opportunities as a result. Manager Bruce Bochy isn't necessarily married to the idea of using Belt as his No. 2 hitter, so if the team struggles to generate offense early in the season, it's possible that Belt could move into the heart of the order.

CBS Sports Giants' Jae-Gyun Hwang: Continues to thrive in spring training Rotowire Staff

Hwang is expected accept an assignment to Triple-A Sacramento to begin the season, Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News reports.

The Korean import, who is attending Giants camp as a non-roster invitee, has been mightily impressive during Cactus League play, batting .349 with five homers. Despite his strong showing at the plate, the Giants are inclined to have Hwang hit the minors to develop a little more versatility, with the 29-year-old expected to see time in both left field and first base. Hwang has an opt-out clause in his contract for July 1 if the Giants fail to promote him to the big leagues by then, so we could see him make his MLB debut at some point shortly before the All-Star break if he continues to rake at Triple-A.

22

MLB Trade Rumors Article XX(B) Free Agent Decisions Jeff Todd

Giants minor-league signee Aaron Hill is set to receive his $100K bonus, Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News tweets, though that doesn’t mean he isn’t going to take an active roster spot to open the year. Baggarly suggests the veteran still has an excellent chance of earning an Opening Day nod after his solid performance in camp.

Athlon Sports & Life San Francisco Giants: 2017 Preview, Predictions & Schedule Athlon Sports

The had to come back from a 3-to-1 deficit against the Cleveland Indians to prevail as World Series champions, but the Giants understood this painful truth: They had the Cubs right where they wanted them, too. The Giants were three outs away from forcing a decisive Game 5 in their NL Division Series, with Johnny Cueto lined up to start at Wrigley Field and Madison Bumgarner available to reprise his role as a shutdown reliever.

But before the Giants could record those three outs in the ninth inning, manager Bruce Bochy desperately used five relievers without success as the Cubs stormed back from a three-run deficit to clinch the series. It marked a fitting end for a Giants team that boasted one of the league’s best rotations and played nearly flawless defense yet also set a franchise record for blown saves. No great surprise, then: The Giants went all-in on a closer in the offseason, shelling out $60 million to sign All-Star Mark Melancon. They hope the rest of a young and talented relief crew will fall more neatly into line now that there’s no uncertainty about who will get the ball in the ninth.

ROTATION Only the Cubs received more innings from their rotation than the Giants, whose 10 complete games led the major leagues. Bumgarner and Cueto combined to go the distance nine times, and despite an uneven middle of the season, Jeff Samardzija threw 203.1 innings as the Giants had three pitchers among the NL’s top five in outs recorded. Bumgarner was a paragon of durability yet again, setting regular-season career highs in innings and strikeouts while also leading all major leaguers in pitches thrown. Midseason acquisition Matt Moore came up huge to help the Giants limp into the NL Wild Card Game, and like Bumgarner, he is on a team-friendly contract with options through 2019. Cueto can opt out of his deal after 2017, though. There’s little reason to expect a serviceable season from Matt Cain in the final year of his contract, but he’ll get a chance to reestablish himself in the spring while left-handed rookie Ty Blach pushes him. Prospect Tyler Beede should be ready to make an impact at some point this season.

BULLPEN Athlon Sports' 2017 baseball magazine delivers full MLB team previews, fantasy baseball insight, schedules, and predictions for every team. Click here to order your copy today or visit your local newsstand!Although Giants relievers combined to blow a franchise-record 30 saves in the regular season, the bullpen’s 3.54 ERA was fifth best in the NL. For the most part, the damage was limited to the ninth inning, when Santiago Casilla faltered as the closer and the other two core members of the three- time World Series champion bullpen — Javier Lopez and Sergio Romo — showed their age. Melancon is a Giant “straight out of central casting,” according to one front-office executive. Lefthander Will Smith,

23

whom the Giants obtained at a steep prospect cost from Milwaukee at the Aug. 1 trade deadline, took awhile to settle in but has all the equipment to be one of the league’s best lefty setup men. Cory Gearrin is a good matchup righthander — when he’s not overused — and will replace Romo. Talented arms Hunter Strickland, Derek Law, Josh Osich and Steven Okert should be able to spend less time warming up and wondering, and let their talent shine.

MIDDLE INFIELD The Giants are golden up the middle. Second baseman Joe Panik and shortstop Brandon Crawford became the first pair of NL teammates since 2002 (the Cardinals’ Fernando Viña and Edgar Renteria) to win Gold Gloves. Crawford didn’t repeat as a Silver Slugger winner, but he led the Giants with 84 RBIs and led the NL with 11 triples. Panik was the hardest player to strike out in the majors (one per 11.19 plate appearances) but also had some of the worst luck, hitting .245 on balls in play — second lowest in the majors. Panik also struggled against lefties for the first time, leading to a move from the No. 2 spot to lower in the order.

CORNERS The Giants committed to first baseman Brandon Belt when they signed him to a multiyear contract in April. Then Belt, a longtime lightning rod among fans, finally fulfilled his potential while becoming the final ballot selection for the All-Star Game. Although Belt’s 17 homers were a disappointment, no player gets cheated more by AT&T Park’s spacious right-center death valley. The Giants won’t receive much power at third base, either. Eduardo Núñez brings much-needed speed to the order, though. Like the player he replaced in August, , Núñez was viewed as a utility player who overachieved into something more. He was a first-time All-Star with Minnesota last year and was leading the AL in steals when the Giants acquired him.

OUTFIELD For all their homegrown success, the Giants' farm system hasn’t yielded much in the way of . And last year’s trio of Denard Span, Hunter Pence and Angel Pagan were no spring chickens. Pagan is gone, Span has lost a step and Pence had major hamstring surgery that forced him to miss chunks of time for the second consecutive season. NL third base coaches turned into windmills on base hits, knowing the Giants had little in the way of outfield arms. The Giants are hoping for health from Pence, whose power still plays in their ballpark, and they’ll plan for a left field platoon between Jarrett Parker and Mac Williamson.

CATCHING Buster Posey checked off a rare unchecked box in his career when he ended Yadier Molina’s eight-year run and won the Gold Glove Award. Posey’s caught stealing percentage set a career high, and advanced metrics gave him tons of love for his ability to frame pitches. No wonder both he and the Giants refuse to entertain talk of moving him to a less stressful position.

BENCH October hero Conor Gillaspie’s three-run homer off Jeurys Familia sent the Giants past the Mets in the NL Wild Card Game, and he also tripled on a 101-mph fastball from Aroldis Chapman in the NLDS. Gillaspie should be the club’s top pinch hitter. Switch-hitter Jimmy Rollins will try to win a backup infield job over Kelby Tomlinson and Ehire Adrianza. With longtime backup outfielder Gregor Blanco gone, Gorkys Hernandez could play a valuable role. The Giants love what catcher Trevor Brown did as a rookie but signed Tim Federowicz to a minor-league contract to push for the backup job this spring.

24

MANAGEMENT Bochy lost no respect in the industry, and he’s still headed to the Hall of Fame someday. But for once, a master of bullpen usage found himself totally “buffaloed,” as he’d describe it, by the club’s failures in the ninth inning. More troubling was the heart scare that caused him to miss a game in Miami. But Bochy, who had an unscheduled procedure in February 2015 to treat two arterial blockages, insisted he was fine and retains every bit of vigor to manage at least through the end of his contract in 2019.

FINAL ANALYSIS The Giants remain one of the league’s most stable and successful franchises. They should receive plenty of quality innings from their rotation along with clean defensive games from a dynamic infield — a great recipe for getting leads, winning series and marching back to October.

Fansided San Francisco Giants: AAA is Probably Best Starting Point for Hwang Sean Bialaszek

The San Francisco Giants might have a great piece in Jae-gyun Hwang, but sending him down to Triple-A to start the season is probably the best move for him and the team.

One of the talks of camp over the past month-plus for the San Francisco Giants has been Korean import Jae-gyun Hwang. In his first taste of baseball in the States, Hwang has captured the imagination with hefty power and some slick defense at third base. He’s been so good in camp that he was given the Barney Nugent Award as the most impressive first-year player in Giants’ camp.

A superstar in the Korean Baseball Organization, Hwang has come over and made an immediate impact with the Giants. So far in this Cactus League season, Hwang is batting an impressive .349 with an outstanding 1.100 OPS. He’s hit five home runs, including three to the opposite field, showing off the power that made him one of Korea’s best. He hit 26 home runs in each of the past two KBO seasons before signing with San Francisco.

Even despite opening so many eyes this spring, it seems Hwang is destined to start the 2017 season in Triple-A with the . While that might seem like a bad move to some, it’s probably the best thing for Hwang at this point in his big league career.

Hwang himself has admitted that there are some areas of the MLB brand of baseball that he hasn’t quite adjusted to yet, particularly a strike zone that is lower and wider than what he’s used to in Korea. While strikeouts haven’t been a big problem for the 29-year-old (17.8 percent strikeout rate this spring), he hasn’t taken a walk in 45 plate appearances and has been behind in the count more often than not.

Versatility is also a facet of Hwang’s game that he wants to further prove to the Giants. He has mainly been a third baseman this spring, his natural position in the KBO, and has looked pretty smooth there. But with Eduardo Nunez and Conor Gillaspie having that covered in the big leagues, it would behoove Hwang to show that he can play other positions capably as he attempts to make the club.

He’s played first base and left field this spring, but hasn’t looked particularly comfortable in the outfield in his limited time there. In one memorable instance, Hwang got all turned around on a fairly routine flyball that ended up going over his head for an extra-base hit. Maybe he just needs a bit of work and

25

seasoning in the outfield before he can play in a game situation, and Sacramento will give him the opportunity to showcase that.

Heading down to Triple-A not only allows Hwang to prove himself with the glove, but it gives him a better chance to adjust to the offensive side of the game. He will almost certainly be an everyday fixture in the River Cats’ lineup, and that will give him many more at-bats to see how the strike zone is called and what kind of offspeed offerings pitchers throw stateside.

Speed was also a staple of Hwang’s game in Korea, stealing over 20 bases four times in the KBO. He hasn’t shown off much of that this spring either, getting gunned down in his only stolen base attempt this spring.

So maybe the Giants are hurting their big league bench on opening day somewhat by sending down Hwang. But at the same time, they’re getting a more regular look at a player that could become more than a bench piece down the road. Hwang has looked like a star in the making down in Arizona, and the Giants could have a stalwart of the everyday lineup on their hands. Giving him the Triple-A at-bats doesn’t hurt Hwang, and ultimately will help him more than if he were to get five at-bats as a pinch- hitter in the big leagues.

If Hwang takes to Triple-A right away, the team can bring him up in a month or so and see if he can help the big league club. Maybe if Nunez struggles or gets hurt, or Jarrett Parker’s spring struggles carry over into the regular season, Hwang can slide right into the Giants’ lineup (provided he looks good in the outfield). If things don’t go well for him early, he can stay in Triple-A a bit longer than that and continue to work on his game.

Hwang has been willing all along to play in the minor leagues before getting a chance at the show, and he seems downright eager in his words to play there and prove himself as more than a one-trick pony. There’s a lot of potential in Hwang, and the team can get a good look at him down in Sacramento.

26