The San Francsico Giants are unstoppable in Arizona. Four spring training games, four spring training game victories.
The Giants were in Tempe, Ariz., and beat the Los Angeles Angels, 4-1, on Tuesday. It marked the spring training debut of the team’s ace and many of the players competing for roster spots were in the batting order.
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How long can the Giants remain undefeated? We’ll see. For now, here are three important takeaways from the game.
Logan Webb Debuts
Giants ace Logan Webb made his spring training debut on Tuesday as he began his ramp-up for the World Baseball Classic. He looked like a pitcher that’s already set for the WBC. Heck, he looked like a pitcher that’s ready for the regular season.
Webb pitched two innings, didn’t allow a hit and struck out four hitters. He threw 26 pitches and 17 of those were strikes. The intriguing part is that most of his pitches were under 90 mph. There’s nothing wrong — he was just mixing in the non-fastballs so well that he didn’t have to rely so much on his fastball.
He may make one more appearance before he joins Team USA and then the Giants will have to watch his ramp-up from afar. For reference, the U.S. starters in the 2023 WBC threw less than 15 total innings, so his workload is not expected to halt his progress toward being the opening day starter.
Patrick Bailey’s Bat
Patrick Bailey was one of the few expected opening day starers in the batting order on Tuesday. The catcher went 1-for-2, with his double driving home a run. It was his first hit of the spring in four official at-bats.
Bailey was batting clean-up on Tuesday, a position he won’t occupy in the regular season. His glove is not in question. He’s a two-time Gold Glove winner behind the plate. But his bat is what San Francisco wants improvement out of.
He has a career slash of .230/.287/.340. He’s only hit 21 career home runs and has never hit more than eight home runs in a season. The Giants aren’t asking for him to be a .300 hitter. But a .250 hitter with 10 to 15 home runs would be a boost to the back end of the lineup.
Ryan Walker’s Debut
Webb wasn’t the only pitcher who made his spring training debut on Tuesday. Ryan Walker, who wants to be the closer this season, pitched an inning for San Francisco. The right-hander didn’t give up a run, but he allowed one hit. He struck out two and walked one. He was part of a run of five relievers after Webb that didn’t allow a run.
Walker moved in and out of the closer role last season as he took a back seat to both Camilo Doval and Randy Rodriguez at times. There is no fall back right now, so Walker has to be the guy. Tuesday was a good first step.
