San Francisco Giants Notes 3/19: Rollins, Okert, Beede, & Arroyo
The San Francisco Giants fell to the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-4, on Sunday, and here are some takeaways from that game with two weeks left in spring.
The Cinderella story of Jimmy Rollins getting one last shot at October glory with the Giants seems to be coming to an end before it ever really got started. Rollins, now 38 years old, came away with another hitless day on Sunday, marking his fifth straight game without a hit. He added a pair of strikeouts to his Sunday tally, and is now hitting a paltry .103 on the spring.
Veteran presence is a great thing to have in any clubhouse an dugout, but presence can not be the only thing a player adds. Rollins’ bat has been just about non-existent for the majority of the Cactus League slate (he’s only collected one hit in his past 22 at-bats, a home run on March 10th), and his defense has also left a lot to be desired.
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Rollins is being thoroughly outplayed by a few of his counterparts, with Aaron Hill and Jae-gyun Hwang making more of an impact as non-roster infielder and Kelby Tomlinson holding his own in the competition. Even in the “veteran presence” category, Michael Morse has at least shown an ability to make consistent, hard contact.
Opening day is exactly two weeks away, and Rollins’ window of opportunity is rapidly closing. He needs to channel the 2007, National League MVP version of Rollins if he hopes to crack the roster. He hasn’t done nearly enough to warrant a roster spot at this point, and his one last run may be just about over.
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On the other hand, left-handed relief pitcher Steven Okert has done just about everything in his power to grab a roster spot and hold on to it. On Sunday, the 25-year-old made his sixth appearance of the Spring, and it was more of the same. He entered in the fifth inning with a runner on first base, and retired all three hitters he faced to strand that inherited runner.
That’s been a common theme for Okert. He comes in, gets his guys, and walks off the mound with his head held high. He’s allowed just three baserunners in six innings (two hits and a walk), and hasn’t allowed a run, inherited or otherwise, to score yet.
While Josh Osich, Okert’s main competition for the second lefty spot in the bullpen, has found a groove in his most recent outings, Okert came in to camp with a groove and hasn’t gotten out of it yet. He has been outstanding to this point, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, there’s no reason he shouldn’t be on the team’s opening day 25-man squad.
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The Giants’ top two prospects, infielder Christian Arroyo and pitcher Tyler Beede, were reassigned to minor league camp on Sunday, but had one last chance to show their stuff with the big league club before being sent down to get more regular playing time. Both took complete advantage of that final opportunity.
Beede, the 23-year-old righty that figures to be in the rotation conversation soon, came out of the bullpen to pitch to two fine innings. He allowed two singles, one of which was erased on a double play, and struck out a batter with a dazzling changeup that fell off the table. His offspeed offering looked to be as stellar as it has been all spring, and he continued to get groundballs at a high rate. Of the six outs he recorded, four came via groundballs, and on the spring he has induced four double plays in 9.1 innings. He has allowed just one run in those 9.1 innings, good for a 0.96 ERA.
Next: Giants Notes 3/18: Morse, Federowicz, Osich
In the ninth inning, Arroyo showed off his beautiful swing. He took a fastball away from Tyler Cravy, and drove it out of the park over the right field fence for his first home run of the spring. Arroyo has a naturally pretty swing, and while it didn’t lend itself to a lot of power last season, it can drive a ball out of the park, as he showed Sunday. It’s a great sign to see him driving the outside pitch to the opposite field, something that has been a staple of players coming up through the Giants’ system in recent years.