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In his first spring training at bat, San Francisco Giants slugging first base prospect Bryce Eldridge left the building . In his first game of spring, defense first catcher Patrick Bailey hit a moon shot. In game two of Cactus League, long time hope, no position lottery ticket Marco Luciano hit a titanic blast to center that left the park faster than a Tiger tee shot in the desert. Last spring Logan Webb had a 10.97 ERA. It means nothing, unless it means something.
MARCO LUCIANO WITH A CACTUS LEAGUE MOON SHOT DOESN’T MEAN HE’S GOING TO BE GREAT, UNLESS IT DOES
MY ANNUAL SPRING TRAINING WARNING:
-I’m not trying to take the fun out of it and you can approach fake baseball however makes you happy. I love spring baseball and would advise you to take the family down to Arizona, enjoy the sun, sit on the lawn, tip back a few cold ones and hit up Scottsdale for a number of different postgame hot spots.
-Having said that, it’s not real baseball. The number one reason why is players are working on themselves, not the opposition. The hitter can smoke it 5,000 feet on a rocket ship and as long as the pitcher gets his work with no tweaks, bumps or bruises, mission accomplished. Logan Webb could be working out the kinks in his delivery. Gassing all fastballs one outing. Messing with a new version of his change the next. He’s not worried who’s in the box. During the regular season, the pitcher, catcher, pitching coach, manager and others are going over the scouting report on how to pitch the opposition. Who’s hot, who’s not. That isn’t how spring works. Get in work, don’t get hurt, that’s the game plan. Hitters see ball, hit ball, get in the dugout. Get in rhythm, stay out of the training room. The worst thing you can hear as a fan is not 0-fer with four K’s, the worst thing is strain, stress or fracture.
-For example, here are some spring training numbers from last year:
GOOD SIGN:
-Joey Bart: 12/29 .414 BA: Picked up by Pirates after being released for the immortal Tom Murphy. Bart hit 13 home runs for the Pirates with a .799 OPS. Giants should have kept the former second overall pick and spring showed he had figured some things out.
-Willy Adames 6 HRs and 15 RBIs in 45 spring ABs and a .333 BA. A career high 32 bombs for Milwaukee in 2024 started in spring and turned him into a wealthy Giant.
BAD SIGN:
-Paul Goldschmidt: 6-48 ..128, 1 HR. The 37 year-old former Giants killer followed an awful spring with the lowest OPS of his career (.716), along with career lows in batting average, slugging and WAR while tying his career high in strikeouts.
-Nolan Arenado: 11-47 .234 0 HRs, 15 Ks: Another older fall off guy, Still looking for a home in 2025 after only 16 HRs, career low .719 OPs and not his usual stellar defense.
BAD SPRING DIDN’T MATTER:
–Logan Webb: 0-3 10.97 ERA, 6 GS, 21.1 IP: His usual Webb self once the regular season started. 13-10 3.47 ERA, 172 Ks in 204 2/3 IP.
-Brent Rooker: .213 (10-47), 3 HRs: The slugger, who actually kind of got paid in the offseason by A’s standards (5 years-$60M), hit .293 with 38 HRs and 112 RBIs with a 5.6 WAR in 2024.
GOOD SPRING DIDN’T MATTER:
–Hoy Park: Why Hoy Park? Park led spring training hitters in batting average in 2024 going 21-44, good for a .477 mark with a home run and 9 RBIs. In Las Vegas in 2024 for the Aviators, he hit .254 with a .770 OPS in 115 games. Park has 179 MLB at bats with 5 home runs, 20 RBIs and a career batting average of .201. Remember, don’t leave all your hits in Arizona.
-Mitch Haniger .385 BA/5 HRs: The former Giants free agent bust went back to Seattle in 2024 after an offseason trade back to the Mariners from the Giants. He looked good in Peoria, but in 121 regular season games hit only .208 with an OPS of .620.
Your spring mantra should be, don’t get hurt. It matters not what players do or don’t do. It matters the team is healthy going into a 162 game gauntlet. Each team generally knows who is on the team and what the rotation and line up looks like. I know you though, so go out there and over react to spring training games!