San Francisco Giants Three Standouts: Split-Squad Day, 3-3

The San Francisco Giants swept their first split-squad day, beating both the Rangers and Indians with standout performances from a number of players.

The San Francisco Giants had their first split-squad day on Saturday, with one team travelling to face the Cleveland Indians while another stayed home to host the Texas Rangers. They were successful on both fields, beating Cleveland 13-4 and knocking off Texas 9-4.

The Giants combined to hit nine home runs across both game. At home, Joe Panik led off with his first home run, and Gregor Blanco, Evan Longoria, and Chris Shaw all followed. Over against Cleveland, Gorkys Hernandez, Myles Schroder, Dylan Davis, and Jerry Sands all hit their first while Mac Williamson went large for the third time this spring.

Here are three players who stood out from the pair of games.

1 – Tyler Beede

Starting at Goodyear Ballpark against the Indians was Tyler Beede, who put a bad start in his Spring Training debut behind him. Against a Cleveland lineup with some legitimate talent, Beede threw three strong innings and allowed just one hit (which was a solo home run, the only run allowed) and walked one while striking out a pair.

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Beede retired hitters like Yan Gomes, Jose Ramirez, and Edwin Encarnacion (whom he struck out) in his three-inning stint. After giving up three runs in two innings in his first start, this was an excellent bounce-back. With Ty Blach and Chris Stratton both off to such great starts, Beede’s path to the big league rotation is looking a bit more blocked, but he can still gain plenty of favor with the pitching staff.

2 – Chris Shaw

The Giants’ slugging prospect, Chris Shaw continued a great start to his spring with another strong day at the plate on Saturday. Facing the Rangers, Shaw hit his first home run of the Cactus League slate, a line drive shot the other way, easily clearing the fence in left-center field. Later in the game, he added an RBI single on a ball up the middle.

Shaw has shown plenty of power before Saturday, even if he hadn’t hit a home run. He had collected three doubles, spreading them all over the field from the left field line to the right-center field gap.

Shaw also played left field again, and though he didn’t have any difficult plays to make, he did make a couple routine ones with no trouble, so that’s a good start.

3 – D.J. Snelten

Another left-hander competing to make the opening day bullpen, Snelten had an excellent inning of work on Saturday against the Rangers. The first batter he faced reached on a groundball that wasn’t handled cleanly and advanced to second on a passed ball, but Snelten settled in and retired the Rangers in order from there on out to keep them off the board.

Snelten did on Saturday what he did so well in the minor leagues last season: force the batters to hit it on the ground. After the initial miscue, he got two outs with groundballs, both hit weakly to the left side of the infield, and ended the frame with a strikeout.

Next: Three Standouts from Game Eight

There are no guarantees for the other lefties, beside Tony Watson, but the Giants will almost certainly keep a second southpaw in their bullpen. Steven Okert and Josh Osich figure to have the upper-hand on Snelten, but if he outperforms them both, he could find himself on the opening day roster.

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