SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — When Stephen Piscotty met with Gabe Kapler earlier than spring coaching, the Giants supervisor had a query for his potential outfielder.
“How good do you assume you might be?”
The direct inquiry is a part of Kapler’s clear managerial model with gamers and a frequent component of their pre-spring participant plan conferences. Piscotty, 32, responded simply as frankly.
“My response was that I can return to my finest kind from early in my profession,” Piscotty mentioned. “I don’t doubt that I can nonetheless try this. That’s my objective, to get there.”
It has been some time, although, for Piscotty, who's in camp as a non-roster invitee. Whereas he posted OPS figures north of .800 in three of his first 4 seasons within the majors, together with a career-best 27 homers in 2018, his first season in Oakland, he owned a sub-.600 OPS when the A’s launched him halfway via final season.
What drew Piscotty to the Giants was greater than their proximity to his native Pleasanton and his former dwelling in Oakland. He mentioned the membership bought him on a “developmental” method, relatively than one make-or-break shot on the Opening Day roster, and he’s in it for the lengthy haul, prepared to simply accept an project to Triple-A Sacramento if crucial.
“That’s grow to be my objective,” he mentioned. “Contribute to the staff in some unspecified time in the future.”
What drew the Giants, and some different groups, to Piscotty was one month in Louisville, Kentucky.
“What I noticed,” Kapler mentioned, “was a wholesome participant.”
When he was launched by the A’s final August, Piscotty was at a crossroads.
In 5 seasons since being traded to Oakland, partially to be nearer along with his late mother throughout her battle with ALS, Piscotty had logged six separate stints on the injured record. He handled a knee, an ankle, a wrist, and at last, for the early a part of 2022, a sprained left calf. However by August, he was starting to really feel like himself once more.
Unlikely to signal on with a major-league membership at that time, Piscotty may both wait till subsequent season and see what was on the market — his launch was softened by his assured $7.25 million wage, plus a $1 million buyout — or he may hunt down a chance in Triple-A.
“I’m so grateful I performed that month,” Piscotty mentioned. “It was a choice to make. It was on the desk to perhaps simply see what would occur if I didn’t, however I’m actually glad I did as a result of I bought lots of issues rotated.”
In 24 video games with the Louisville Bats, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, Piscotty hit 5 dwelling runs and drove in 14 runs, each equal to his totals in 42 video games with Oakland. A small pattern measurement? In opposition to minor-league pitching? Positive, however don’t inform Piscotty.
“I may really feel it,” he mentioned. “Whenever you make contact with a ball and it goes, you realize it’s nonetheless there.”
Observing from throughout the Bay, Piscotty got here to admire the Giants’ hitting method. His work this spring with hitting coach Justin Viele has already yielded outcomes, he mentioned. Moderately than “swaying” along with his again hip — a foul behavior that makes his swing “too lengthy and free” — he needs to make use of it as a “stable rock,” which he hopes will produce extra low line drives with backspin, relatively than lofty fly balls.
“It’s cleaned up so many different issues that I used to be attempting to do and couldn’t actually appear to in years previous,” Piscotty mentioned. “These are my favourite changes, while you give attention to one adjustment and it cleans up x, y and z.”
Whereas the said objective goes towards a prevalent ideology as of late, that extra fly balls equals extra dwelling runs and launch angle is king, Piscotty mentioned, “I assume you may say I attempted it and it didn’t work.”
Between Michael Conforto, Mitch Haniger, Mike Yastrzemski and Austin Slater, 4 outfield spots on the Opening Day roster are locked up. The Giants are prone to carry at the very least two different gamers, LaMonte Wade Jr. and Joc Pederson, with intensive outfield expertise, as effectively, however Kapler mentioned it’s unlikely they'd go into the season and not using a fifth outfielder.
With Luis González (again) dominated out for the rest of the spring, may it open a lane for Piscotty?
“I consider within the upside and the ceiling as a result of it’s fairly excessive,” Kapler mentioned. “My analysis is we've got a wholesome participant who for the primary time shortly is type of at his finest bodily, and we’ll see how lengthy he can keep there. That’s going to be an enormous figuring out issue for me, personally.”