SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Third baseman Matt Chapman and shortstop Willy Adames have only played a handful of Cactus League innings with one another, but Friday afternoon’s exhibition against the Milwaukee Brewers provided a glimpse of their collective value.
With no outs and the Brewers’ Brewer Hicklen on second base in the top of the fourth inning, Milwaukee’s Jimmy Herron hit a routine grounder right at Adames. Hicklen broke for third base on contact. Adames eschewed the easy out and threw to third base at an awaiting Chapman. Hicklen tried retreating to second; Chapman chased him down.
Watching the play unfold on the right side of the infield were first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. and second baseman Tyler Fitzgerald. With Fitzgerald making his first start of Cactus League play after dealing with a lower back injury, the Giants’ 9-2 victory over the Brewers at Scottsdale Stadium represented the first time San Francisco’s starting infield has played together this spring. The sample was small. The excitement was palpable.
“The whole left side is ridiculous. … It’s hard to argue with how good that infield is,” said right-hander Hayden Birdsong.
Along with Adames and Chapman exhibiting the fundamentals, San Francisco’s offense featured its share of fireworks. Chapman and designated hitter Wilmer Flores hit back-to-back homers on back-to-back pitches off Brewers’ ace Freddy Peralta. Wade and right fielder Mike Yastrzemski had solo shots of their own.
Adames, who signed a franchise-record $182 million deal this offseason, didn’t hit a home run but drove in two runs on a fourth-inning single against his old club.
While Adames wears new colors for a new team, the love for his former teammates remains strong. Not only did Adames hug Peralta prior to their matchup — Peralta got Adames to pop out — but Adames chatted and jawed with those in the Brewers’ dugout during warmups.
“It was hilarious for me,” Adames said of facing Peralta. “We were both looking at each other. He was laughing, I was laughing. It was different. It’s going to be tough for us to concentrate when facing each other.”
On the mound, the Giants’ three starting pitchers — Birdsong, Kyle Harrison and Logan Webb — combined to allow one earned run over seven innings.
Webb, making his second Cactus League start, allowed that lone run on a solo homer by Caleb Durbin but struck out four over three innings, continuing the mechanical tweak he unveiled in his Cactus League debut. Following Webb’s departure, Birdsong and Harrison, both competing for the fifth spot in the rotation, posted the exact same line: two scoreless innings, two hits, zero walks.
Harrison, making his first appearance of Cactus League play, sat in the 91-92 mph range with his four-seam fastball, occasionally touching 93 mph. Manager Bob Melvin believes Harrison’s velocity will continue to climb and noted that Harrison had a slow start to the spring due to getting sick. Melvin also assessed that Harrison’s velocity was better against the Brewers compared to his bullpen sessions.
“I think people are so obsessed with the idea of me and velo,” Harrison said. “I don’t need to have the velo to get the swing and miss; analytics show that. It’ll get there. I haven’t had the cookie cutter offseason. Going into the offseason, (I put) my head down. Now, the shoulder’s right, body’s feeling good. I don’t want to rush anything. I just want to go out there and compete. I did that today and the velo will naturally come.”
Added Melvin: “Sometimes, it’s not going to be 95, 96 (mph), but it’s still going to have some life. When he’s throwing his offspeed for strikes and he’s mixing in all his pitches, his fastball is going to play better.”
Clark talks with reporters
Tony Clark, the executive director of Major League Baseball’s Players Association, spoke with reporters on Friday morning, touching on a variety of different subjects. When asked about his impressions of how things unfolded in Oakland with the A’s, Clark paused for about 15 seconds before providing his answer.
“I’m trying to measure my words,” Clark said. “We would have liked to have seen it play out a little bit differently. As someone who had the opportunity to play on that field as many times as I did and see the fan support that is there, I would’ve liked to see it play out differently.”
Clark responded “never say never” when asked if he could see the Bay Area being a two-team market again.
As far as Sutter Health Field in Sacramento, which will be home to both the A’s and the River Cats, the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate, Clark said MLBPA has been getting feedback from players. Clark added that there’s nothing he’s seen that jumps out as a red flag.
Injury updates
- Outfielder Heliot Ramos (right oblique soreness) is throwing out to 120 feet. He is set to hit on the field this weekend. He was set to hit in the batting cage on Friday, then he’ll progress to hitting on the field this weekend.
- Catcher Tom Murphy (mid-back disk herniation) started light rehab activities. Melvin said it’s a “definite possibility” that Murphy misses Opening Day.
- Infielder Jake Lamb (left quad strain) will be shut down from baseball activities this weekend after exiting Thursday’s game against the Seattle Mariners. He’ll be re-evaluated on Tuesday.
- Infielder Oslevis Basabe (right shoulder strain) will not throw for the next 2-4 days.