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 Bruce Bochy constructed a fair preview for Opening Day. Brandon Belt batted second behind Denard Span, with Hunter Pence, Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford at three, four and five. Aaron Hill batted sixth as a place-holder for Eduardo Nuñez, and Joe Panik was seventh, which was fine with him. “I’ve got some protection behind me,” he said with a smile. That was Madison Bumgarner, 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 World Series 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 spring training 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 Hunter Strickland, Derek Law and Cory Gearrin, with left- handers Josh Osich, Steven Okert and Will Smith.