It took until June 12, but the Giants finally enjoyed their first home off day of the season in San Francisco.
To date, all of the team’s off days have been spent traveling or in a road city, and Monday’s slice of freedom couldn’t have come at a better time.
While manager Bruce Bochy was at home resting and relaxing, a handful of Bochy’s players trekked to Oracle Arena to watch the Golden State Warriors clinch the NBA Finals with a Game 5 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“With that, it was a little different because I was at a regular season game and it wasn’t nearly that intense and you get there and it’s just like, right on tipoff, everyone’s going crazy so it was pretty cool to see,” Giants’ reliever Derek Law said.
Law joined the Giants in the 2016 season, two years after San Francisco won its third title in five years. Without having experienced what winning a championship is like in his professional career, Law said he drew motivation from watching the Warriors close out the Cavs on their home floor.
“Those guys are so athletic and big and just great at what they do,” Law said. “I think for me, it’s honestly motivation and you see them winning and everybody is happy and jumping around and confetti is everywhere and it makes you want to get to the pinnacle of your sport and be in that position so I think if anything, that’s what you can learn from it.”
Giants’ third baseman Eduardo Nunez was also in attendance on Monday evening, and the potential All-Star candidate said taking in the experience with Bay Area fans was a special moment.
“That was unbelievable, it was an amazing experience for everyone,” Nunez said. “They cheered for them, especially when they live here, to see that kind of experience, it was amazing.”
For years, San Francisco has been a Giants-crazed town, but with the Warriors’ recent run, some of the energy and has shifted across the bay. Nunez said it’s on the Giants to feed off of the Warriors’ success and start turning around their season.
“You gain motivation to see how they play, how they perform at a high level so we have to start doing that,” Nunez said.
Panik sits again
Giants’ second baseman Joe Panik is out of the lineup for the fourth consecutive game after spraining his left thumb on Thursday in Milwaukee, but manager Bruce Bochy said Panik could have started if the team wanted to push him.
Instead, Bochy said Panik will use Tuesday to resume baseball activities, and should be available to come off the bench. With Kansas City starting left-hander Jason Vargas, Bochy felt no need to rush Panik back onto the field, and said he’ll be back in the lineup on Wednesday.
“He’s (Panik) fine, you know what, he’s going to use today as a day to do all of his baseball activities,” Bochy said. “Take groundballs, BP, but he’s full-go, could have started but I just want to give him a day to get back into the flow of things and take his normal BP and he’ll be in the lineup tomorrow.”
Bochy also updated the status of infielder Conor Gillaspie, who is set to begin a rehab assignment on Wednesday after suffering a back injury in May. The Giants’ skipper said Gillaspie will join AAA Sacramento, and could be back with the team soon if the Giants feel the need to replace a position player on their 25-man roster.
“Conor, yeah, he’s healthy, he just needs some more at-bats,” Bochy said. “He’s going to meet the team in, where, Las Vegas, I think where Sacramento is going. He’ll go there to just get a few more games.”
The Giants don’t have much roster flexibility at the moment because the team is waiting to hear a verdict on reliever Hunter Strickland’s appeal hearing, which took place on Tuesday morning. Strickland hit Nationals’ outfielder Bryce Harper with a 98-mile per hour fastball two weeks ago, and a benches-clearing brawl ensued.
Strickland was initially suspended six games, but the Giants are hopeful that his suspension will be reduced. The club expects to hear a verdict within the next day or two, and Strickland will begin serving his suspension immediately.
With Strickland out, San Francisco will move forward with 12 pitchers and 12 position players until his return.
“You’re not going to send a pitcher down,” Bochy said. “We really can’t send a position player down because we’re down to four there, but we’ll just keep the club as it is. The only move that’s a possibility would be Conor Gillaspie if we want to swap out a position player for position player.”
Giants tap into “great gene pool”
The first two rounds of the Major League Baseball Draft took place on Monday, and the Giants used both of their picks on high school prospects.
In the first round, San Francisco added 17-year-old Puerto Rican outfielder Heliot Ramos, and in the second round, the club selected Chaparral High (Scottsdale, Arizona) third baseman Jacob Gonzalez.
Gonzalez is the son of former Arizona Diamondbacks’ slugger Luis Gonzalez, and Bochy said he was excited to have a player in the organization coming from such a great gene pool.
“Big kid (Gonzalez), 6-foot-4, so I look forward to watching him play,” Bochy said. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to his dad about him, I know he’s a bat that potentially is a big bat that could help us down the road. But our first two picks, that’s what they’re known for is the bat. Our No. 1 pick (Ramos), he’s a tools guy, five tools, he runs well, big bat, he’s one of the youngest guys in the draft and potentially is a power type hitter as Gonzalez is too.”
