San Francisco Giants: First Cuts Don’t Clear Things Up
The San Francisco Giants made their first round of cuts this spring on Monday, but it didn’t clear much up in the way of roster battles.
With opening day just over two weeks away, the San Francisco Giants have started to whittle down their roster in the Cactus League. The Giants moved 13 players after their game on Monday, getting their roster down to 47.
Right-handed pitchers Tyler Herb, Chase Johnson, Pierce Johnson, and Reyes Moronta, left-handers D.J. Snelten and Steven Okert, catcher Aramis Garcia, and infielder Miguel Gomez were all optioned out of big league camp.
Right-handers Tyler Cyr, Jose Flores, Dereck Rodriguez, and Madison Younginer, as well as utility player Alen hanson were all reassigned to minor league camp.
Players who were optioned out were done so because they’re on the 40-man roster. Players who were reassigned are not on the 40-man roster.
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These moves didn’t do much to clear up the battles for spots on opening day roster. Only one battle received a bit of clarity, though it’s anything but settled at this point. With Okert and Snelten both being optioned, that leaves Josh Osich as the lone southpaw reliever in the running for the second lefty spot in the bullpen, next to Tony Watson.
Osich has been mighty impressive this spring, throwing more strikes than he has in the past few years. He has incredible pure stuff, and the more aggressive approach to the strikezone could be what takes him to the next level in the Giants’ bullpen.
However, the keys haven’t been handed to Osich just yet. There’s still a few left-handed starters in camp who are competing for a spot in the rotation that could take a place in the bullpen. Ty Blach entered camp as a front-runner for a spot in the rotation and has done nothing to hurt his standing. Derek Holland has pitched mostly as a starter in his career, but could move to a shorter role if he continues to pitch well this spring.
Beside the bullpen battle, the race for two rotation spots remains, even though it seems like they have been just about locked up by Blach and Chris Stratton. Holland, Andrew Suarez, and Tyler Beede remain in big league camp.
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The outfield is still full, with Mac Williamson, Steven Duggar, Jarrett Parker, Gregor Blanco, and Gorkys Hernandez still competing for two spots on the bench. In the infield, Kelby Tomlinson and Pablo Sandoval seem to be the favorites for two bench spots, but Chase d’Arnaud, Andres Blanco, and Josh Rutledge will have their chances to usurp either of those two in the last couple weeks.