SCOTTSDALE — For the first time in a Giants camp that is more than three weeks old, Brandon Belt was spotted taking batting practice on the field.
The Belt Watch has been on since he was afflicted with an illness that sapped him of energy and is not related to COVID-19, Gabe Kapler has said. The manager said the first baseman had been “wiped out” from the sickness.
On Friday, Belt took some swings on the field before playing catch, then took some reps at first base again.
Before the illness, it already had been a concern whether he would be ready for the start of the season because of October surgery to remove a bone spur from his right heel. Even with his beginning to ramp up baseball activities, it seems unlikely he will be good to go when the regular season starts April 1.
“Every day he’s becoming a little more energetic,” Kapler said Thursday of the 32-year-old. “He’s increasing his level of intensity in his baseball activity. He’s in better and better spirits. Today he was actually smiling a bit more and showing that he felt better.”
Brandon Belt, after dealing with an illness, is taking swings again. pic.twitter.com/DEw9Bi86kS
— KNBR (@KNBR) March 12, 2021
Belt is coming off perhaps the best season of his career in the abbreviated year. He posted a 1.015 OPS in 179 plate appearances and nearly carried the Giants into the expanded postseason.
There might be more incentive for the Giants to let him rest because they’ll face a few lefties in the opening series in Seattle. If he begins the season on the IL, Tommy La Stella and Wilmer Flores would be the leading contenders for first-base time.
Reyes Moronta and Rico Garcia are set for their Cactus League debuts Saturday.
Austin Slater, who’s been out with hamstring tightness, is listed as a reserve outfielder for Friday’s game at Scottsdale Stadium against the Rockies. Kapler said he could see an at-bat.