After Sunday’s series finale against the Rockies, Oracle Park is closing its doors to the Giants.
The club isn’t necessarily getting kicked out of their home park, but the stadium will be getting prepared for the upcoming three-night Dead & Company concert series. The facilities on Third and King will be closed for the All-Star break, which begins after play Sunday night.
Giants manager Gabe Kapler said the closure of the park shouldn’t create any issues for his team during the July 10-13 layoff, but it may cause more of a scattering than usual. Some players are heading wherever they call home, some are staying in the Bay Area despite Oracle Park’s unavailability, many will go down to Arizona and a pair of pitchers will pitch in the All-Star Game in Seattle.
“We obviously will have the field if we need it in Pittsburgh, coming out of the break,” Kapler said. “And in the meantime, a lot of players are going home, spending time with their families. As I walked out here today, seeing that we’re hitting and still grinding today — it’s plenty. It really is. There’s nothing like the break that the body gets for a couple days of just not doing a whole lot of anything. We don’t really have any complications, to be honest, in terms of getting our work in.”
Alex Cobb and Camilo Doval are the Giants’ duo of first-time All-Stars. Their travel plans are the easiest. The rest of the pitching staff might not have it as simple.
Reliever Taylor Rogers didn’t know he’d be locked out of Oracle Park until Sunday morning. He’d assumed that he’d be able to throw there, but will evidently have to figure something out. He opted against going home to Colorado because it would be a quick turnaround and it’s tougher to get to Pittsburgh — the Giants’ first opponent out of the break — from there.
Jakob Junis, one of San Francisco’s many Giants bulk relievers, is so eager to head back home to Arizona to see his family at their Scottsdale home, he’s flying out after SF’s game Sunday.
“I can’t wait,” Junis said. “Be in my own bed in my own house, with my kids and my wife, see some friends — just kind of get away from baseball for a little bit.”
Junis, who hasn’t pitched since July 4, meaning he could have a 10-day layoff between appearances. To manage that, he plans to throw with his eight-year-old son or into a net in his backyard for higher intensity. If he doesn’t appear in Sunday’s game, he’ll likely throw a quick bullpen session postgame and again in Pittsburgh before play resumes.
Since the Giants’ spring training facility is in Scottsdale, much of the team — including Junis — has a home base there. Brandon Crawford is planning on spending his break there, where we’ll rest the left hamstring he tweaked on Saturday. The injury isn’t serious and almost certainly won’t force Crawford to miss time, but the 36-year-old will have the week to rest and recover.
“We want him coming back after the break as strong and as healthy as possible,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said.
Recovery time will also be pivotal for Thairo Estrada, John Brebbia, Mitch Haniger, Luke Jackson, Anthony DeSclafani — all of whom are on the injured list.
When play returns, the Giants will embark on a 10-day, four-city road trip. They’ll need to get all their errands out of the way before then, when they have a chance.
“This is going to sound really boring, but I do need to go to the DMV,” Kapler said of his All-Star break plans. “Trying to renew my motorcycle license. It’s been a while.”