Giants manager Bruce Bochy likes to invoke that old cliché, “Players make out the lineup,” meaning that performance decides who will play. He should also admit that contracts play a big part in lineup decisions for the Giants.
Case in point: Though Brandon Belt was supposed to start the first two weeks, unless a left-hander were pitching, he was not in the lineup for the second series of the season, nor the first two home games against Pittsburgh.
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OAKLAND — The disabled list for the A’s got a bit more crowded on Tuesday, adding to an already mounting group of casualties heading into the season.
First baseman Daric Barton was placed on the DL with a strained right shoulder retroactive on March 24. He joins a list that already included two of the team’s would-be starting pitchers: Dallas Braden and Brett Anderson.
And the news for Braden only got worse Tuesday.
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By:
Mike Tulumello
03/25/12 11:24 PM
PHOENIX — The Chicago White Sox lit up Barry Zito on Sunday in a 5-2 win over the Giants. Zito gave up five runs and nine hits in 2¹⁄³ innings, including back-to-back homers to A.J. Pierzynski and Alex Rios in the third inning.
Moments later, after giving up a double to Gordon Beckham, manager Bruce Bochy lifted him.
Zito said he left pitches too high in the strike zone.
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By:
Mike Tulumello
03/22/12 11:47 PM
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Brandon Belt seems to wear a different hat every day. Well, surely he wears a different glove.
One night, he’s trying to figure out a Candlestick-like wind while playing left field in Glendale, Ariz., vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers. Then he goes back to his more familiar first baseman’s mitt.
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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The story of spring training in 2011 for the Giants was, without question, Brandon Belt. Belt had put up great numbers at three minor-league levels in 2010, and swung his way onto the major-league squad by putting up impressive Cactus League numbers. Belt couldn’t hold back tears after being told he had made the big-league club out of camp by manager Bruce Bochy, a scenario that played out in detail on Showtime’s “The Franchise.”
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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — A day in the designated hitter slot may have been all Buster Posey needed to get his swing going. In his third at-bat of Wednesday’s 2-2 tie against the Cleveland Indians, he drove a 1-1 fastball to right field that easily cleared the fence for a home run — his first hit of spring training.
Posey downplayed the importance of the home run, but admitted everyone likes to get on the board.
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By:
Tom Gibbons
03/09/12 12:15 AM
PEORIA, Ariz. — Call it baptism by fire — or fireballer.
Giants star Buster Posey is scheduled to start at catcher today in an exhibition game in Scottsdale, Ariz., against the Cincinnati Reds.
And in his first at-bat since he was injured early last season, Posey will likely face one of the hardest throwers in the majors. The Reds’ probable starter is Aroldis Chapman, whose fastball has been clocked at more than 100 mph.
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By:
Mike Tulumello
03/07/12 7:51 PM
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — In baseball, it’s great to be known as a terrific defensive outfielder.
It’s not so great, though, to be known as a fourth outfielder.
So this is the year for Nate Schierholtz to break through.
Schierholtz, after years of serving as a reserve — he was a key defensive backup in the drive to the World Series in 2010 — is set to start in right field.
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By:
Mike Tulumello
03/02/12 12:05 AM
SCOTTSDALE, AZ. — The Giants will play several regulars, including their expected starting outfield, but will sit out catcher Buster Posey when they open their Cactus League schedule on Saturday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Posey, though he’s “real close” to returning after his season-ending ankle injury in May, probably is a few days away, manager Bruce Bochy indicated Thursday.
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They’re just a baseball team this year, the Giants, not the champions, not the club with the attention, baggage and impossibility of doing what nobody had done for more than a decade — repeat.
“I don’t think any of us knew what was coming,” Tim Lincecum said. He meant about the season of 2011, disappointing mainly because understandably it couldn’t match the season of 2010, the championship season.
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