SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The cardboard boxes that appeared in front of players’ lockers this week slowly began to fill with their belongings and on Saturday morning were loaded into equipment trucks, their last stop on their way to San Francisco. There is no surer sign of the end of spring training than the presence of those big box trucks in the parking lot.
The Giants arrived in Scottsdale six weeks ago with questions to answer. As they departed Saturday, their catching situation remained murky as ever, and they carry some injury concerns into Opening Day, but they can head home happy with some of the positive developments of camp.
“I feel good about the depth of our team relative to the last couple years,” manager Gabe Kapler said Saturday morning, a few hours before their Cactus League finale against the Mariners. “I feel like our defense is improved … I feel great about where our starting pitching is. Good depth at Triple-A too. I think we’re in a fine spot overall. … The most important thing to me is when we play any of the teams around the league that it’s an absolute grind to get through us. We feel good about our ability to scratch and claw and fight and make it really challenging for other teams to come to Oracle and when we’re on the road, we want teams to not be especially keen about playing us. I feel like we’re in a position to be able to make that statement.”
Who’s the catcher?
The number one battle entering camp is still unresolved. Since day one, Kapler has said the Giants would wait until they had seen every possible rep from all four catchers, and that has held true, as all four backstops made the trip north with the team to Oracle Park.
Rule 5 pick Blake Sabol, 25, faced the challenge of learning a pitching staff on the fly while also developing into a major-league catcher, after spending most of his professional career in the outfield (and logging only 25 games above Double-A, none in the bigs). Joey Bart, 26, had to prove he had moved past his struggles at the plate and behind the dish last year.
What happens with the two veterans, Roberto Pérez and Austin Wynns, may depend on the Giants’ confidence in Pérez’s health. President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said on Friday they would be counting on him to catch half their games, if he makes the roster. Curiously, Bart and Sabol have each posted strong receiving metrics this spring, according to Kapler, while Pérez’s haven’t lived up to his reputation as a two-time Gold Glover.
“This is the ‘challenging your own assumptions’ part of the evaluation process,” Kapler said. “Is that thing that you’ve been saying a true thing? Like, is Roberto Pérez your best defensive catcher? … If you ask me, the answer is yes, but the exercise is to do the work and to not make the decisions too quick.”
There should be some clarity soon: Pérez’s contract has an opt out that allows him to become a free agent if he isn’t placed on the active roster by Monday. What will be determined over the long term is whether whatever group of catchers they put on the roster will be enough to help them return to the postseason.
Who can step up?
For only the second time since 2010, the Giants will have somebody besides Brandon Belt at first base on Opening Day. On the opposite corner of the diamond, it won’t be Evan Longoria, either. The Giants let both Longoria, 36, and Belt, 34, walk in free agency, with the plans to replace them with younger, more athletic players.
LaMonte Wade Jr. and David Villar were anointed the starters at the beginning of camp, and both are expected to be in the lineup at Yankee Stadium.
At first, Wade has garnered positive reviews for his defense, despite only 58 games of major-league experience. And after a difficult year physically and mentally in 2022, coaches have noticed Wade is particularly locked in this spring.
“He’s done a tremendous job of being in a great frame of mind and being in great physical shape, too,” Kapler said. “I think those two things are booting one another.”
It’s been a tough camp for Villar, who is 4-for-28 (.143) and missed a week with a hip injury, but the Giants are giving him some runway after dominating Triple-A the past two seasons and putting on a strong showing with San Francisco last September. The leash likely won’t be too long, though, with Wilmer Flores and J.D. Davis already on the major-league roster and prospect Casey Schmitt waiting in the wings.
While Schmitt will start the year at Triple-A Sacramento (where he will split his time at shortstop), his impressive spring “accelerated his timeline,” according to Zaidi. He wasn’t the only young player to impress this spring, giving the Giants confidence in their line of reinforcements at Triple-A.
Outfielder Bryce Johnson and right-hander Sean Hjelle, two stalwarts of the Sacramento roster the past two seasons, have broken out this spring and should break camp with the club; Schmitt and 21-year-old left-hander Kyle Harrison, and possibly even Marco Luciano, could make their major-league debuts at some point; and Tristan Beck, Keaton Winn and Sam Long should provide more starting pitching depth at the upper levels.
“If we are going to win a lot of games this year, if we are going to be competitive in the National League West, if we are going to go to the postseason and go deep in the postseason,” Kapler said, “it’s going to be because we have a roster that gets supplemented by young players coming up and performing.”
Is the defense better?
The Giants spent money this offseason — $174 million on six free agents, more than all but seven other teams — but none of it went to up-the-middle players, or anyone particularly renowned for their glove work, despite ranking near the bottom of the league in nearly every defensive metric in 2022.
With the additions of Mitch Haniger and Michael Conforto, though, Zaidi said he believed they had “raised the floor” of their defense, which sank pretty low at times last season. When healthy, they should provide an everyday presence at two positions that often featured a rotating cast of defensive liabilities in 2022. However, Haniger (oblique) will start the year on the injured list, along with Austin Slater (hamstring).
There’s been a renewed focus on the fundamentals in camp, led by infield coach Kai Correa. However, one recent game saw a player overthrow the cutoff man and another botch the execution of a grounder to first base with the pitcher covering. So, there is still work to be done.
Kapler was recently asked to give his assessment.
“A solid ‘B’,” he said. “Last year was a ‘D.’ That’s a good improvement, but we still have a ways to go.”
How are the vibes?
After an awkward offseason, Brandon Crawford made it clear in the first days of camp that he had put the Carlos Correa saga behind him.
The rest of the team has followed his lead, as neither Correa or Aaron Judge’s name has been uttered much, if at all, in the clubhouse.
“I think we’ve got a really good vibe in our clubhouse right now,” Zaidi said. “I think guys feel really good about the group of players we have.”
How is their health?
In short, it could be better, but it could also be worse.
The Giants built their roster to withstand attrition among their starting pitchers, but that group has emerged from the spring with Alex Cobb’s swollen knee as its biggest health question mark (he threw a bullpen Saturday and remains day-to-day). Where they were thin, among right-handed hitting outfielders and at shortstop, is where their biggest concerns have cropped up.
Austin Slater (hamstring) and Mitch Haniger (oblique) will start the season on the injured list. While Crawford (knee) is expected to be ready to make his 12th consecutive Opening Day start at shortstop, the Giants’ shortstop depth will be tested this season as the inflammation in his left knee will have to be managed throughout the season.
On the bright side, Michael Conforto’s surgically repaired right shoulder appears to be fully healed and he is expected to start in right field on Opening Day. But rather than Haniger in the corner opposite him, it will likely be Sabol, their 17th different Opening Day left fielder in as many years.
