San Francisco Giants Notes: Panik Looks Like Old Self, Beede Strong
As Spring Training continues, San Francisco Giants’ second baseman Joe Panik looks more like his old self and Tyler Beede is still going strong
One of the big questions entering the new season for the San Francisco Giants regarded second baseman Joe Panik, and whether he could bounce back from a down season with the bat in 2016. A concussion suffered in June, courtesy of an accidental helmet beaning by future teammate Matt Moore, certainly hampered him badly in the second half.
Panik’s vision wasn’t as sharp after the concussion, and when he came into camp this year saying that his eyesight was back to normal, it was a big relief for Giants’ fans. But he still needed to prove that the eye exercises he took up over the offseason actually made an impact. Early this spring, he’s proving just that.
Every at-bat Panik has put together this February and March has looked like the Panik of his rookie and sophomore seasons. Panik was able to put together those kind of at-bats last season as well (he did have baseball’s lowest strikeout rate), but too often those at-bats that didn’t end in strikeouts would instead result in a pop-up or a weakly-hit groundball to the right side of the infield. In spring, though very early, Panik is back to putting great swings on the ball and shooting line drives all over the infield.
Panik entered Thursday’s split-squad game against the Los Angeles Angels with five hits in eight at-bats through three games, including a double and a home run. . His strikezone recognition hadn’t been lost over the offseason, as evidenced by his excellent ability to lay off close pitches and foul off pitches he couldn’t do anything with. He hadn’t struck out in his first eight plate appearances.
The reigning Gold Glove second baseman continued his hot offensive start on Thursday. In his first at-bat, he recorded another hit, stroking a line drive over the second baseman’s head. In his second chance, facing former teammate Yusmeiro Petit, Panik fell behind in the count 1-2, but worked his way back before eventually taking ball four.
Panik’s third at-bat may have been his best, even though it goes down as an out on the scoresheet. Facing Petit for the second time and with a runner on third base, Panik absolutely scorched a line drive towards right field, but right in the direction of first baseman C.J. Cron. The 6’4″ Cron just had to reach his glove up and snag it for the inning’s second out. There are no exit velocity readings yet in Spring Training, but that ball had to come off Panik’s bat easily over 100 miles per hour.
A return to form by Panik would be more than welcome for the Giants, as the team surely missed his steady presence at the top of the order last season. A healthy Panik that can hit around .300 again would make the Giants’ lineup that much deeper and more dangerous.
Another player that impressed over in Tempe was the Giants’ top prospect, Tyler Beede. The right-hander received the start and became the first Giants’ starter this spring to throw a scoreless outing. He held the Angels off the board over two innings of work, giving up two singles and a walk while striking out one.
Beede’s control was a bit erratic, which is nothing out of the ordinary for this point in the season. He missed locations with fastball on more than one occasion, two of which were up in the zone and turned on for singles, but it was obvious to see what made Beede so successful last season. When he was planting his fastball in the lower part of the strikezone or even below that, hitters couldn’t do much with the natural movement of the pitch but roll a groundball to second base or back to the mound. His lone strikeout came on a tight slider below the zone.
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Last year’s Eastern League ERA leader, Beede has high expectations surrounding him. There’s still some work to do, and Triple-A is the most likely opening day destination for him, but he’s not far away. If he can continue to have outings like this, he’ll get himself even closer