Preseason Game Wrap 3/25/2025: Giants 4 Tigers 3

Tyler Fitzgerald's 2-run homer in the third inning jumpstarted the Giants scoring and Jordan Hicks looked sharp in his final preseason start.  Key Lines:

Tyler Fitzgerald 2B- 1 for 2, HR(2), BB, SB(1).  BA= .283.  Fitz shook off his 2 K's and rough interview from last night by going deep to LF to drive in Mike Yastrzemski RF who drew a leadoff walk.  Kruk and Kuip commented on an interaction between Fitz and Batting Coach Pat Burrell in the dugout after the HR.  Something about body language.  I didn't catch enough to understand what it was about.  He later singled, stole 2B and scored on Grant McCray's single to CF.

Christian Koss SS- 1 for 1, 2B.  BA= .341.  Cristian Koss drove in what proved to be the winning run on a booming double into the L-CF gap.  He also put a nice tag down to nab a runner at 2B.  OK, team.  Here's what the tea leaves are telling me.  Through the entire second half of spring training, Christian is the only utility IF candidates to play SS.  I think he's going to make the team.  Don't be shocked if McCray is the 4'th OF because he is the best defensive CF, but maybe since Encarnacion's injury both McCray and Matos make the team?

Jordan Hicks RHP- 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 10/1 GO/AO.  ERA= 5.19.  Hicks got through 5 innings in under 60 pitches and his FB sat at an easy looking 99 MPH.  He came out for the 6'th inning and labored through a leadoff walk and was taken out for Joel Peguero RHP.  A single by Riley Greene who advanced on a throw trying to get the lead runner at 3B put runners at 2'nd and 3'rd with no outs.  The runner then scored on a sac fly.  In his last two starts Hicks did a good job of depending on his stuff, pitching to contact, getting groundball outs and keeping his pitch count down.  Still, he should be able to throw more than 60 pitches without tiring.  

Camilo Doval RHP(2.00) allowed 3 hits and a run in an inning of work.  Randy Rodriguez RHP(1.74) capped off a fine spring with a scoreless frame.  Ryan Walker RHP(4.15) got the Save with a scoreless 9'th inning.

The Giants travel to Cincinnati tomorrow and face the Reds on Opening Day with Logan Webb RHP facing Hunter Greene RHP.

Preseason Exhibition Game Wrap 3/24/2025: Giants 6 Tigers 4

Robbie Ray gave up back-to-back HR's in the fourth inning but was otherwise electric in his final preseason start while Heliot Ramos led the lineup from the top of the order.  Key Lines:

Heliot Ramos LF- 3 for 4, 2B, HR.  BA= .308.  Ramos got a late and slow start to spring training but came on strong at the end.  He led off what appears to be a potential Opening Day lineup, homered in his first PA and had two more hits with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI's.  Yeah, we'll take that!  Fingers crossed that Ramos stays healthy and continues his development because the talent is there to be a cornerstone player.

Patrick Bailey C- 2 for 4, 2B, SB(4).  BA= .316.  Preseason discussion focused on who the back up C would be but Bailey quietly had a strong spring.  Can he avoid another second half slump?

Tyler Fitzgerald 2B- 1 for 3, 3B, 2 K's.  BA= .273.  Fitz did an on-camera interview after coming out of the game which I found uncomfortable to listen to.  He was beating himself up over the K's and wasn't having Kruk and Kuip give him any praise for the triple.  It's great to work on reducing the K's, but if he plays good D at 2B and hits .273 on the season I'm sure the Giants will be happy.

Brett Wisely 2B- 1 for 1, 2B.  BA= .295.  Competition for the utility IF spot was fierce between Wisely, Schmitt and Christian Koss.  Koss might be a slightly better defensive SS but Wisely is already on thre 40-man roster, bats LH and had a strong spring so he probably has the edge.  

Robbie Ray LHP- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 1.86.  Ray caps off a strong spring.  He gave up B2B HR's to Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson both pretty serious hitters.  Otherwise another strong start.  Didn't see that much of the new changeup he learned from Tarik Skubal but it was effective when he used it.  I am not sure what type of pitch Greene took deep but Ray tried to sneak a fastball in above Tork's hands and got too much of the plate.  It went out in a hurry.  A healthy Ray for a full season would be a huge boost for the Giants postseason chances.

Lou Trivino RHP, Spencer Bivens RHP and Tyler Rogers RHP recorded a scoreless frame each.  Erik Miller LHP got roughed up for two runs in the 9'th but finished the game.

As we know, Landen Roupp RHP was named the 5'th SP with Hayden Birdsong RHP making the team out of the bullpen.  Maria Guardado of sfgiants.com reports Birdsong had a split fingernail that may have contributed to his poor performance yesterday.  Birdsong making the roster probably aces out Joel Peguero RHP and man, I want to see how that 102 MPH FB plays in a regular season MLB game!

Jordan Hicks RHP makes his final preseason start in a 5:05 PM start facing highly rated Tigers prospect Jackson Jobe RHP.

Preseason Exhibition Game Wrap 3/23/2025: River Cats 4 Giants 3

The Giants took an early lead off Keaton Winn but the River Cats came back with a 3-run rally off Hayden Birdsong in the 6'th inning and held on for the win in Sutter Health Park in Sacramento.  Key Lines:  

Heliot Ramos LF- 2 for 2, 2B, BB.  Nice game for Ramos.  He got a late start due to a mild oblique strain but seems to be rounding into form in time to start the season.

Jung Hoo Lee CF- 1 for 2, 2B, BB.   Hey!  A Jung Hoo Lee sighting!  After missing about a week with back tightness he returns to game action and picks up where he left off.  Hey!  It was the dog days and spring training is too long anyway!  Kidding aside, a healthy Lee seems critical to any hope of a Giants postseason run this year.

Sam Huff C- 1 for 3.  Bob Melvin reportedly confirmed that Huff will start the season as back up catcher and Stassi will provide depth with the River Cats.  Melvin said Stassi was made aware this would be the likely scenario from the beginning.

Max Stassi C- 1 for 1, 2B.  Stassi has had a good spring too.  40-man roster and option considerations worked against him.  Hopefully he sticks around and waits for his opportunity.  There is a high probability he will be needed at some point in the season.

Christian Koss SS- 1 for 3, 2B.   Interesting he was the starting SS for the Giants squad in this game.  Is it possible they find a way to put him on the roster as the utility IF?  I saw a quote on BlueSky from Zach Minasian that Koss is a "favorite" of the Giants front office.

Landon Roupp RHP- 5 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 8 K's, 5/2 GO/AO.  This game was billed as a showdown for the #5 SP role between Roupp and Hayden Birdsong.  The tea leaves told me coming in that Roupp getting the starting assignement meant he had the inside track.  He certainly did nothing to lost that.

Hayden Birdsong RHP- 0.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 0 K.  As Krukow would say, "that's a rough appearance!"  Saw footage of Birdsong checking out his finger in the dugout with speculation he may have a blister.  That would certainly settle the #5 SP question for Roupp, at least temporarily.  Roupp is the more experienced pitcher of the two although when healthy, Birdsong has more electric stuff mainly due to about 3 MPH higher FB velocity.

Keaton Winn RHP- 2.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K's.  Kyle Harrison LHP was a late scratch so Winn got the start for the River Cats squad.  Reportedly no injury to Harrison.  His start just got pushed back to tomorrow.  Melvin said it was never realistic to expect Harrison to make the Opening Day rotation after starting spring training late and losing a lot of weight and strength to an illness. He will build back up in extended spring training or AAA.  

Joey Lucchesi LHP- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  From Melvin's comments these options and reassignments seem to be final.  I am still not convinced Lucchesi is out of the running for a roster spot.

Mason Black RHP- 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K's.  Nice appearance for Black in scrub time.

Hunter Bishop RF- 2 for 4, 2B, BB.  Probably a make or break season for Bishop.  Nice line in this game.

Logan Porter C- 2 for 3, 2B, BB, SB(1).  Logan Porter says, "Hey!  Don't forget me!"

The Giants play in Oracle Park for the first time this year with Robbie Ray LHP taking on the Tigers who are tuning up to start their season against the Dodgers in LA.  And with that, the Bay Bridge Series is officially history.  

Earlier today the Giants made the surprising announcement that Sean Hjelle RHP was optioned to AAA Sacramento.  The tea leaves tell me this means Joel Peguero RHP probably makes the Opening Day roster along with Spencer Bivens RHP and Randy Rodriguez RHP.  Roster moves should be interesting over the next 3 days.

Thoughts On The Cactus League 2025

Although there are still three exhibition games left before Opening Day and still undecided roster spots, the Giants completed a successful Cactus League season yesterday finishing 19-6, by far the best spring record in MLB and with a +54 run differential also best by far.  While acknowledging the truth that spring records don't correlate with the regular season there are still impressions worth commenting on.  So here's a list of my thoughts on the 2025 Giants Cactus League campaign:

The starting lineup is (mostly) set.  Jung Hoo Lee CF may miss a few games at the start of the season with a nagging back tightness issue but the rest of the positional starting 8 is set and played together as a unit through most of the spring. 

Competition for reserve/bench positions was fierce and as yet undecided.  We've run through the options several times so we all know the players.  Jerar Encarnacion's injury takes one player out of the running hopefully temporarily.  If the Giants split the 26 man roster evenly between pitching and positional players there is room for 5 bench/DH spots.  Wilmer Flores 1B/DH is a lock for one.  Another has to be a back up catcher which comes down to Sam Huff vs Max Stassi who both had good springs.  Huff might hold an edge since he is already on the 40-man roster and out of options.  That leaves 3 positions to be decided between Luis Matos OF, Grant McCray OF, Brett Wisely IF, Casey Schmitt IF who are all on the 40-man roster.  Christian Koss IF and Jake Lamb UT/DH may still be in the mix despite Lamb's reassignment to minor league camp.  Koss had an excellent spring and may be the best SS defender in the mix.  Lamb was brought in as potential lefty bat off the bench for what is becoming a strongly righthanded leaning roster.  

The Giants finished the Cactus League #5 in MLB for Team BA, #3 for HR and OPS.  Their 45 HR's were spread among 14 players led by Matt Chapman's 6.  

The pitching looked really good and far more settled than in recent years.  The top 4 starting rotation spots are set with with all 4 pitchers performing well to excellent.  Jordan Hicks struggled early but his most recent start was exactly what you are looking for in a 4'th SP.  

Competition for 5'th starter was fierce and remains undecided.  Landen Roupp RHP and Hayden Birdsong RHP have both been close to unhittable.  Birdsong may have the edge based on quality of stuff and a FB that sat at 98 MPH.  Kyle Harrison LHP may eventually join the mix but got a late start due to an illness and needs time in extended spring training and/or AAA to build up his strength and pitch count.

Competition for the final 2 or 3 bullpen spots was also fierce and remains undecided.  NRI Joel Peguero RHP in particular was a phenom sporting a FB that sat at 102 MPH.  My goodness!  And there still might not be room for him on the Opening Day roster!

Sabin Ceballos 3B is a phenom!  Ceballos was not invited to MLB spring training but kept getting brought over for late inning replacement and split squad games. He certainly made the most of those opportunities going 9 for 15 with 2 doubles and a HR.  Ceballos came to the Giants in the trade of Jorge Soler DH to the Braves last season. He had a sudden power breakout at A+ after the trade and certainly opened eyes with his spring training performance.  He'll play in the minors this season but I'll be eagerly watching his batting lines.

Bryce Eldridge 1B excited everybody with a 455 ft HR early but then showed why he needs more seasoning with 8 K's in 12 PA's.  

The recent free agent acquisitions performed well and look ready to lead the team:  Matt Chapman 3B, Willy Adames SS, Jung Hoo Lee CF and Justin Verlander RHP.  All except Lee look ready to start the season and be major contributors.  Lee had a strong spring before missing time with back tightness which has gone on longer than hoped but an MRI was reportedly normal so he should be back soon.

Overall the team seems more settled and more confident than for many years with solid reason to hope they will be noticeably better this season and maybe surprise a few people and make the postseason.

Spring Training Game Wrap 3/22/2025: Giants 7 D'Backs 7

Sabin Ceballos 3B capped off a sensational spring with a 3-run double in the 9'th inning to salvage a tie with the D'Backs in the Giants final Cactus League game of 2025.  Key Lines:

Matt Chapman 3B(6, .421), Patrick Bailey C(2, .294) and Mike Yastrzemski RF(4, .282) went B2B2B with solo HR's in the 4'th inning.  David Villar 1B(3, .200) hit a solo HR in the 8'th inning.  Until Ceballos double in the 9'th, all Giants runs came on those four solo HR's.  Ceballos ended up 9 for 15 on the spring.  He won't make the team but I think his performance qualifies him as a phenom.  That's sure one way to get the attention of the MLB level Manager!

Justin Verlander RHP- 5 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 3.43.  Pretty sure Verlander had two goals for today's start:  Get his work in and don't get hurt in the process.  Excited to see how the season unfolds for him.

Sean Hjelle RHP(6.75) gave up 2 runs in an inning of work.  I don't think his roster spot is in question at this point. Ryan Walker RHP(4.70), Erik Miller LHP(3.60) and Randy Rodriguez RHP(1.93) pitched.  After today's cuts, I think all three of these pitchers make the Opening Day roster.

The Giants break camp in Arizona and head to Sacramento for a game against the AAA Rivercats tomorrow evening.  Landen Roupp RHP gets the start with Hayden Birdsong RHP also scheduled to pitch.  Kyle Harrison LHP who was optioned to AAA Sacramento before the game today starts for the Rivercats.  Not sure if all that means Roupp has the inside track for 5'th SP but I think it would be reasonable to read that into it.

The Giants got bad news on the injury front as Jerar Encarnacion UT/DH was found to have a fracture of his left hand and will miss at least 4-5 weeks.  While that is not the news the Giants were hoping for it might be reasonable to consider putting Jerar on the 60-day IL to make room for another addition to the 40-man roster.  Keaton Winn RHP as also optioned and in a somewhat surprising development, Joey Lucchesi LHP was reassigned to minor league camp.  That would leave just one LHP, Erik Miller in the bullpen but the RHP's competing for the last 3 spots were just too good.

Spring Training Game Wrap 3/21/2025: Giants 5 Guardians 4

A pitching duel fronted by Logan Webb and Ben Lively RHP broke open when the Guardians scored 3 runs in the 8'th inning to take a 4-2 lead off Tyler Rogers RHP but Brett Wisely got it back and more with a 3-run HR in the bottom of the inning to salvage another Giants win.  Key Lines:

Lamonte Wade Jr DH- 1 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .229.  I can just see the scene from the movie version of Moneyball where Billy Beane is sitting at a round table with his assistants and scouts and LMWJ's name comes up.  Someone says, "He's only hitting .229!"  Beane answers, "but he......(looks at his assistant)".  Assistant:  ".....gets on base!" as the old school guys at the table roll their eyes and groan.  LMWJ's spring OBP is .429 and his OPS is .886 which is good for any hitter but exactly what you want from you leadoff guy.  One thing that seems to keep showing up in the boxscore is he seems to be the DH more often than 1B, particularly against RHP's, with Wilmer Flores playing 1B. We'll see how that plays out with roster construction and in-season lineups.

Willy Adames SS- 1 for 2, 2B, BB.  BA= .381.  LMWJ and Adames led off the Giants half of the first inning with B2B doubles to score the Giants first run.  Adames committed what was initially scored as B2B errors with Matt Chapman but Chapman's E was later changed to a hit.

Matt Chapman 3B- 1 for 3, HR(5).  BA= .417. Chapman continues to lead the Giants in batting average and HR's.  

Sabin Ceballos 3B- 1 for 1.  BA= .667.  Ceballos continues to get opportunities to hit in the MLB spring games and continues to impress.  He is 8 for 12 on the spring.  I can't wait to follow his name in the Down on the Farm posts.

Brett Wisely 2B- 1 for 1, HR(1).  BA= .286.  Wisely has had a solid spring but so has Casey Schmitt and Christian Koss.  Does Wisely's lefthanded bat make the difference?

Logan Webb RHP- 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K's, 5/4 GO/AO.  ERA= 1.77.   Not a typical Logan Webb pitching line with almost as may flyouts and groundouts, but he sure seemed sharp in his final spring start.  The only time he got close to trouble was in the 4'th inning when the second batter reached on Adames error and the next batter singled on a line drive off Chapman's glove which was initially scored as an error but later changed to a hit.  That brought the dangerous Bo Naylor to the plate.  Webby said "no worries" and got the GIDP to end the inning.

Spencer Bivens RHP- 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, 4/0 GO/AO.  ERA= 2.92.  Bivens finished 2024 on the MLB active roster.  He had done nothing to lose that status this spring but is he on the bubble with so many bullpen candidates all pitching well?

Camilo Doval RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 1.13. Doval had to inject just a bit of his signature torture into it but ended up with the Save by striking out the side. Doval is another fascinating storyline to watch once the season starts.

The Giants play their final Cactus League game tomorrow in Scottsdale with Justin Verlander RHP making the start.  That sure went by fast!

Jung Hoo Lee CF did not play and is looking to make his return to the lineup on Sunday against the River Cats in Sacramento but from his comments reported by Maria Guardado of sfgiants.com it sounds like it's far from a sure thing that he'll be ready for Opening Day.

Jerar Encarnacion jammed his left ring finger on a diving attempt at a catch right after entering the game in RF.  He'll be evaluated but seemed to be in quite a bit of pain.

The Giants optioned Tristan Beck RHP and Wade Meckler OF and reassigned Logan Porter C, Enny Romero LHP and Jake Lamb UT/DH to minor league camp.

Blogger's Note

 Hey team!  There was a nice, informative discussion after a prior post about the recently announced 10% investment in the "Giants" by a a private equity firm.  Unfortunately for us Giants fans, based on Larry Baer's comments it appears most of that investment is going to bail out the struggling Mission Rock project which is a separate company but owned by the Giants ownership group and which the Giants LLC is significantly invested in.  

I am posting this to give you a heads up I will accept a few comments here but will probably limit them to one comment per commenter and will not accept long diatribes like what happened on....ahem....another well-known Giants-oriented blog.  

Thanks to everybody for being regular readers and commenters.  Thoughtful comments help make this the greatest Giants-oriented blog out there.  Just my opinion, FWIW.