© Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
When the San Francisco Giants started to make their way to Scottsdale, Arizona to begin Spring Training earlier this month, so did former pitcher Ryan Vogelsong. In between spending time working with the young pitchers in camp, Vogey hopped on Murph & Mac Monday morning to praise their potential.
“There’s a lot of good arms,” Vogelsong said. “You’ve to go be excited about it. There’s some guys, obviously, with a little more polish than others, but there are some really good arms to be excited about and guys, from what I can see, that want to compete.”
Specifically, Vogelsong is helping four of the Giants’ young pitchers compete for the fourth and fifth spot in this upcoming season’s rotation.
With Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, and Jeff Samardzija once again leading the rotation, the Giants are looking to Ty Blach, Chris Stratton, and prospects Tyler Beede and Andrew Suarez to round out to the last two spots in the starting core.
After Blach allowed one hit with two strikeouts as the starting pitcher in the Cactus League opener on Friday, he was relieved by Suarez, who also pitched two innings and allowed three hits with three strikeouts. The next day, Stratton started against the Los Angeles Dodgers, allowing three hits and a walk with two strikeouts.
As for Beede, his first appearance this spring will come against the Kansas City Royals on Monday at 12:05 p.m., and Vogelsong told Murph & Mac what he’s been working on with the 24-year-old right-hander.
“I’ve been spending some time with Tyler Beede,” Vogelsong said. “Me and him have just been talking about focus and just trying to make sure you’re focusing on every pitch for two and a half hours. Just trying to stay in that zone, like I used to, and don’t let anything else bother you, just making sure you hit the back of the glove as much as you can.”
To listen to the full interview check out the podcast below, and start from the beginning for Vogelsong on the Giants.