San Francisco Giants Notes 3/12: Tomlinson, Blanks, Ramirez

The San Francisco Giants were back at it again on Sunday, closing out the second full week of Spring Training with a victory over the Diamondbacks.

Kelby Tomlinson has proven himself to be a quite valuable piece for the San Francisco Giants over the previous two seasons. In 2015 as a rookie, he took over for an injured Joe Panik and dazzled fans with his speed and simple, yet highly effective, approach at the plate. In 2016, between a disabled list stint and trip to the minor leagues, he was a valuable weapon off the bench, especially in late innings.

Coming into Spring Training this season, though, Tomlinson had become sort of a forgotten man. With so many veteran infielders, like Jimmy Rollins, Aaron Hill, and Gordon Beckham, coming in to compete for what is likely to be one job, the younger infielder has been lost in the shuffle a little bit. That hasn’t deterred Tomlinson, who has coming into spring and shown through almost three weeks that he isn’t going to give up a roster spot so easily.

While Rollins and Beckham have both struggled with the bat, Tomlinson has continued to use his basic approach to pepper line drives all over the field. He entered Sunday’s contest hitting .368, seven hits in 19 at-bats, with a triple and three runs batted in. He’s played all over the infield, and despite a rocky start with the leather, has settled down and is looking quite reliable at second base, third base, and shortstop.

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On Sunday, he continued to make his case in his first plate appearance, with an excellent at-bat in the second inning. The bases were loaded, and Tomlinson slashed a double the other way and down the right field line to score a pair, giving the Giant an early 2-1 lead.

It’s that simple approach that has made Tomlinson so effective at the big league level in such a short time. With a short, compact, and almost completely level swing, Tomlinson has no issues taking what he’s given and adjusting to the pitch. He has no problem slapping the outside pitch to right field, or waiting on the breaking ball because of an extremely short stride step.

Tomlinson is doing well for himself this spring, but he does have competition that is pushing for a spot on the roster. Aaron Hill, another veteran non-roster player, has had a solid spring to this point and looks like a player that could help the big league club. He entered Sunday slashing .316/.409/.421 with a pair of long doubles, but didn’t record a hit against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He did work a walk, and later scored a run.

Jae-gyun Hwang, the Korean import that is getting his first taste of the American brand of baseball, has also been impressive this spring. He’s hitting .310 with an astounding .810 slugging percentage, having smashed three home runs and a double.

Tomlinson is at an inherent disadvantage because he has minor league options, but has done nothing to hurt his case thus far in spring. His known versatility, which includes his ability to (somewhat) play left field, as well as his speed and outstanding bat control makes him a valuable asset to the Giants’ bench. Other have more power, but Tomlinson makes up for his diminutive strength with other facets of his game that are top-notch. Tomlinson should, at this juncture, be the frontrunner for a bench job.

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After missing all of 2016 because of foot injuries and getting off to a slow start this spring, Kyle Blanks has fallen well behind guys like Chris Marrero and Michael Morse. He made sure that people were still paying attention on Sunday against Arizona. With lefty Andrew Chafin on the mound, Blanks showed off his impressive power by crushing a home run to the opposite field, clearing the right-center field wall. Blanks will have an extremely tough time cracking the big league roster at any point this season, but no one can question his immense strength.

*Note: After Sunday’s game, Blanks was reassigned to minor league camp.

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Neil Ramirez has made a nice impression in his early appearances, but struggled a bit on Sunday. He allowed his first walk and run, giving up a pair of singles and a wild pitch before letting the run in. That blemish on his record can be chalked up to a bit of bad luck, as the run-scoring hit was a squibber that probably travelled no more than 40 feet before on the infield. Hwang, the third baseman in Ramirez’s inning, had no shot at a play.

Next: Giants Notes 3/11: Williamson, Moronta, Crick, Morse

Even while working through traffic, Ramirez struck out the side while continuing to show a great repertoire. He struck out a pair of batters, one swinging and one looking, with a tight slider that the hitters could not figure out. On the spring, Ramirez has struck out nine in five innings, while giving up just one walk.

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