SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The competition for the fifth spot in the Giants’ rotation has been a talking point since the first day of camp. Every time Landen Roupp or Hayden Birdsong or Kyle Harrison takes the mound, the narrative stands to shift in some respect. For all those headlines, the battle for the fourth outfield job, though, is not without its own intrigue.
Especially given how well its two competitors are playing.
Grant McCray and Luis Matos both furthered their cases to make the Opening Day roster as the Giants beat the Rockies, 8-2, on Monday afternoon at Salt River Fields. McCray tallied a single, a double, a walk, a steal and scored two runs while Matos, the favorite to win the job, smashed a 108.2 mph single, stole a base of his own and scored a run.
“Grant’s been playing great now after a little bit of a tough time and striking out early on,” said manager Bob Melvin. “Luis has been swinging the bat pretty consistently the whole time. It’s good to have competition.”
With roughly two weeks of Cactus League games remaining, McCray is enjoying a bit of a statistical edge over Matos. McCray, who made his debut last season, owns a .346 batting average and .952 OPS with a team-leading four stolen bases while Matos, the reigning Rookie of the Year in the Venezuelan Winter League, is hitting .324 with a .795 OPS. For McCray, he wants more of a challenge whenever he reaches base.
“I want them to pick over,” McCray said. “I want to get dirty. I haven’t been getting as dirty. I’ve been stealing these bases with ease. I want to make them work a little bit. I’m just antsy a little bit. I want to get back to stealing 60 bags a year, 70 bags a year. I’m just trying to get my legs under me, feel it out right now.”
Matos, 23, makes more sense to win the job for the Opening Day roster. Along with having more major-league experience (121 games) than McCray (37 games), the Giants can platoon Matos with right fielder Mike Yastrzemski against left-handed pitching. Matos, a right-handed hitter, has a career .273 batting average and .758 OPS against lefties in the majors whereas Yastrzemski has a .223 batting average and .686 OPS.
McCray could also benefit from more seasoning with Triple-A Sacramento. The 24-year-old doesn’t lack for physical tools, combining solid pop with elite speed and arm strength, but McCray struck out in 56 of his 130 plate appearances (43.1%) during his brief time in San Francisco. For comparison, the A’s Zack Gelof had the worst strikeout rate among all qualified hitters at 34.4%.
“I’m just competing to be on the team,” McCray said. “Honestly, whoever they decide to put as our fourth outfielder or platoon outfielder, that’s their decision. For me, it’s more of just come to the field and do what I do best: play hard. If they want me on the team, they want me on team. I’m not looking at it as a competition. We’re all teammates at the end of the day. I want to see this team win, whether I’m on it or not.”
Birdsong continues bid for fifth spot
Speaking of that fifth rotation spot, Birdsong needed just 45 pitches to complete three scoreless innings with four strikeouts against the Colorado Rockies. So efficient, in fact, that the Giants sent him back to the bullpen at Salt River Fields to meet his pitch count requirement as he continues to build up.
“He throws his breaking ball for a strike whenever he wants to,” Melvin said. “His fastball command is getting better. Once he gets that down, he’s going to be a tough customer to deal with because he can throw any pitch in any count. We saw him last year. There were times he was really good. Pitched as well as anybody we had at times.”
Birdsong, who’s in competition for the fifth spot along with Kyle Harrison and Landen Roupp, has been excellent in Cactus League play, allowing one earned run over seven innings. Including his outing against Giants minor leaguers at Papago Park, Birdsong has a 2.89 ERA with 13 strikeouts to one walk this spring.
Over at Papago Park, Harrison allowed one earned run over 3 2/3 innings with three strikeouts but allowed two walks and five hits.
Webb continues tinkering with changeup
Logan Webb, the Giants’ Opening Day starter, allowed two earned runs over 4 2/3 innings to the Rockies, his longest outing of Cactus League play so far. The main intrigue of Webb’s start lies not with his performance, but with his changeup velocity.
Webb threw nine changeups against Colorado which registered an average velocity of 85.4 mph. Last season, his average changeup clocked in at 87.4 mph — a full two ticks slower. Webb has talked about wanting to tinker with his changeup. So, was this velo drop intentional?
“Maybe,” Webb said with a smile. “I think I got in trouble last year when I’d throw a couple that were 90 (mph). I just thought it kind of took the shape away. But, today, the homer I gave up was 83 (mph). Still working on it. Overall, I thought it was really good.”
Updates on Meckler, Murphy
The Giants announced on Monday morning that outfielder Wade Meckler has a mild neck strain and will enter concussion protocol. Meckler exited in the first inning of Sunday’s split-squad game against the Chicago Cubs at Sloan Park after diving for a fly ball and landing hard on the outfield warning track.
Additionally, backup catcher Tom Murphy received a second epidural injection and will be limited to rehab activities for two weeks. With Opening Day on March 27, Murphy will begin the season on the injured list.
Tuesday’s start time moved up
The Giants’ home game on Tuesday night against the A’s has been moved from 6:05 p.m. PST to 4:05 p.m. PST. Rain is in the forecast for Tuesday night in Scottsdale.