SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Just about every morning, the televisions in the Giants’ clubhouse at Scottsdale Stadium feature a portrait of “first down champ,” an honor that goes to the pitcher who throws the highest percentage of strikes in the previous day’s game. The photos are intended to be comedic, dating to when a pitcher was in the minors, high school or college.
On Wednesday morning, a teenaged Justin Verlander at Goochland High School graced the televisions.
“I’ll take full credit for that one,” said pitching coach J.P. Martinez of the photos.
Martinez and his coaching staff challenged the Giants to be the most aggressive pitching staff at attacking the strike zone during spring training. The message has clearly resonated.
Entering Friday, Giants pitchers had walked just 46 batters, the fewest of any team in spring training by a wide margin — the St. Louis Cardinals have the second-fewest with 62. The Giants also were tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the second-most strikeouts (196), not far behind the A’s (202). Their 4.26 strikeout-to-walk ratio isn’t just the best mark in spring training, it would have topped the Seattle Mariners (3.84) for the best mark in baseball last season.
“You hear all the guys talking about (first down champ), too,” said manager Bob Melvin. “If you don’t walk guys, you have a better chance to stay away from big innings. … Everybody’s embraced that. They love the challenge of it. They like to be the guy who throws the most strikes on a particular day.”
Right-hander Tristan Beck said, “It’s a daily emphasis for us. You’ve seen in the locker room the daily leaders. The numbers have been backing that up. The couple losses we have this camp, we weren’t throwing a lot of strikes.
“Personally, anecdotally, every free pass I let up manages to come around to score. That’s been the big (emphasis). Less than just throwing strikes, it’s about competing, trusting your stuff and that’s more the mentality they’re going for. It’s, ‘We’re going to run head first into this and make adjustments if we need to.’ So far, it’s been going pretty well.”
Martinez, in his first year as head pitching coach after taking over for Bryce Price, wanted the Giants to re-emphasize throwing strikes after walks went up significantly last season . In 2021 and ‘23, the Giants had the lowest walk rates in baseball. In 2022, they finished sixth. Last season, they fell to 22nd.
The Giants’ wildness also was reflected in Zone%, a stat that tracks the percentage of pitches thrown inside the strike zone. From 2021-23, San Francisco had a Zone% of 43.1%, second only to the Dodgers (43.3%). Last season, the Giants’ Zone% was 41.5%, which ranked 26th in baseball. San Francisco struck more batters in ‘24 (23.6%) compared to 2021-23 (22.9%), but Martinez wants his pitchers to throw more strikes.
“I really wanted to recapture that as one of our staff’s superpowers. That’s why the early emphasis on being aggressive,” Martinez said. “I told the guys in baseball, it’s the only sport where we have the ball on defense. So, we have to take an offensive mentality to the way we pitch. I don’t think there’s much room in this league for guys who are tentative, and so I really wanted to see who was going to take hold of that challenge and go be the first down champ every day. Guys have responded really well.”
Each day can only have one “first down champ,” but Martinez is plenty pleased with his staff’s aggression in the zone.
Logan Webb, the Giants’ Opening Day starter, has 10 strikeouts to one walk over 9 2/3 innings. Verlander, looking to bounce back from the worst season of his career, has nine strikeouts to two walks over 11 innings. Robbie Ray, who added a changeup this spring, has an eye-popping 17 strikeouts with no walks over 9 1/3 innings. But arguably the most impressive performance this spring belongs to one of the 23-year-olds fighting for the rotation’s fifth spot.
Hayden Birdsong flashed elite strikeout stuff as a rookie but was often undone by the walks. Last season, Birdsong walked 13.7% of the batters he faced; if he qualified, that would’ve easily cleared the Astros’ Ronel Blanco (10.1%) for the worst mark in the league. This spring, Birdsong hasn’t walked a single batter over seven Cactus League innings, pairing that with 10 strikeouts. Even if Birdsong’s outing at Papago Park against minor-league competition is included, he’s walked just one batter since games started.
“One thing I’ve tried to impress upon these guys is when you throw a strike, there’s five things that can happen. You can get a called strike, a swinging strike, a foul ball, an out in play or you can give up a hit,” Martinez said. “Only one of those five is theoretically bad, but even if you give up a hit, you learn something. If I told you you’re going to win four out of five nights that you go to the casino, you’ll probably live there. That’s what I’ve been trying to impress upon these guys: take chances in the zone. Be aggressive.”