San Francisco Giants: Pence Looks to Continue Long-Standing Tradition
With Opening Day approaching, Hunter Pence is in position to continue a long-standing tradition for the San Francisco Giants
Barry Bonds was a stalwart in left field for the San Francisco Giants, holding down the fort in Candlestick and AT&T Park (through a few different names) for 15 seasons. He played 1,985 games in left field between 1993 and 2007, averaging over 130 games per season. He surpassed 100 games at the position in 13 of 15 seasons, with the lone exceptions being 1999, when an elbow injury kept him off the field from mid-April to June, and 2005, when knee surgeries limited him to 13 games in September.
He was a constant. For 15 years, Giants’ fans knew Bonds would be taking his position just about every day. Since the post-Bonds era began, Giants’ fans have come to know something completely different: every year brings a new left fielder.
This year, it’s Hunter Pence‘s turn to take the spot. Despite never having played the position in an MLB regular season game, Pence is shifting from right field to make room for the newly-acquired Andrew McCutchen, who hopes to pick up on all the nooks and crannies in a weird right field.
If everything goes according to plan, which means Pence doesn’t get hurt in Spring Training, he will take left field on March 29th at Dodger Stadium. When he does so, he will become the 11th different Opening Day left fielder in the 11 seasons since Bonds last played. He’ll join a list that includes Andres Torres, Fred Lewis, Michael Morse, and Norichika Aoki.
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Pence will take a similar route to Angel Pagan to left field. After struggling to cover ground in center field, Pagan was shifted to the left side for the 2016 season (during which, he became one of the 11 difference Opening Day left fielders). Pence struggled to cover ground as well, this time in right field, so he will move to a less strenuous position.
Pagan at least had the luxury of prior experience as a major leaguer in left field. Thought it come over a half-decade earlier in his career, Pagan had played 109 games and over 700 innings in left field as a big leaguer. Pence hasn’t played the position with any form of regularity since 2005 as a minor leaguer, and that was a 39-game stint.
With his usual good spirit and non-stop enthusiasm, Pence will do his best to put a rough season behind him and be part of a revamped Giants’ team that also wants to put a rough season behind them. He will use the Cactus League campaign to get used to seeing the ball from a completely different angle, learning how the ball moves differently off the bat than it does in right field.
Just about everyone has played left field for the Giants over the past decade. Everyone from Emmanuel Burriss to Nate Schierholtz to Kensuke Tanaka to Jeff Francoeur, and even reliever Cory Gearrin are among the 53 different players to see action in the position. Pence figures to be the 54th, and that number will continue to grow as the season wears on. Prospects like Chris Shaw and possibly Steven Duggar, and a veteran in Austin Jackson will find themselves there at some point this year.
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Pence isn’t going to be the long-term answer in left field. Maybe Shaw can take that role and become the guy who finally brings some stability to the always unstable left field. But in the meantime, at least Pence is keeping the tradition alive.