The San Francisco Giants fell to the Cleveland Indians on Monday, but there were plenty of positives to take away from the game.
The San Francisco Giants dropped a close one, 5-4, to the Cleveland Indians on Monday. Most notably, both sides played an excellent defensive game, making some really tremendous plays throughout the nine innings.
Here are three Giants who stood out on Monday:
Hunter Strickland spent this past offseason learning from one of the best. He sought advice from Hall of FamerJohn Smoltz, and picked up a slider in the process. He’s shown that pitch on many occasion this spring and overall, it looks like a nasty new addition to Strickland’s repertoire.
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As with any new pitch to a pitcher’s arsenal, there will be some growing pains as a pitcher fully learns how to handle it. There will be some hangers and some bad misses, but when it’s thrown correctly, it can be a beauty. Strickland threw it in a two-strike count in the sixth inning and froze 2017 AL MVP finalistJose Ramirezwith it on the outside corner.
Strickland has been a valuable member of the Giants’ bullpen over the last couple years, and this new addition could make him even better. Strickland has dabbled with offspeed offerings, but never really seemed to have one he could truly trust before. This slider looks like it might change that for Strickland.
Even with a large group of cuts happening on Monday, Steven Duggar is still in camp. He was the starting center fielder behindJohnny Cueto, and continued to show why the Giants think so highly of him.
He started his day with a run-scoring single in the second inning, showing some of the great plate discipline that makes him an intriguing option. He worked the count and fouled some tough pitches off before lining a ball into right field to bring home the run. He was robbed of a hit in the sixth inning when Cleveland left fielderGreg Allenmade a great play at the warning track.
Duggar made some excellent plays of his own, though. He covered a lot of ground, starting from left-center field, to make a running catch in right-center to steal extra bases fromMike Napoli. He made a couple of plays tracking back as well, but did lose a ball in the sun in the fifth inning.
3 –Trevor Brown’s arm
Brown was reassigned to minor league camp on Monday, but still made a big impact in the late innings against Cleveland. He showed off his arm a number of times after entering the game as a late-inning defensive replacement.
In the eighth inning, he gunned down an attempted base thieve at second base, erasing aTyler Rogers’ hit by pitch. The next inning, Brown andJarrett Parkercombined for an excellent defensive play, erasing a runner at third base.
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Giants’ pitcherDillon McNamaraallowed a single to right field, and runnerJodd Carterattempted to score from second. Parker unleashed a perfect throw home, holding the runner, but Carter made too big a turn at third. Brown threw behind him, allowingAndres Blancoto make the tag and clear third base. Brown then ended the inning by throwing out another would-be base stealer.
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