© Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
ANAHEIM — All of Mac Williamson’s hard work during the offseason, spring training, and in the minor leagues paid off. The San Francisco Giants re-called him to their major league roster on Friday, just in time for a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels.
In return, Williamson rewarded the Giants’ faith by crushing a deep two-run homer in his second plate appearance. The ball left his bat at 114.2 miles per hour, the hardest hit ball of the year. It sparked a six-run fifth inning and played a key part in the Giants’ 8-1 victory over the Angels.
Although it was his only hit of the game, Williamson was ecstatic to be back in the Giants clubhouse.
“Everybody in here has been very positive,” Williamson said. “Very welcoming and inviting. I haven’t been here, obviously, before today, but I felt the positive energy buzzing around here before batting practice, during batting practice, going into the game.
“It’s fun to be a part of.”
Williamson would eventually hit a home run, but he began his night by striking out against the Angels’ Andrew Heaney.
“It sucks to strikeout in your first at-bat like that,” Williamson said. “You’re trying to put the ball in play, but I felt like I swung at all the right pitches.”
Williamson went on to commend Heaney’s performance, saying, “he’d made some really good pitches up to that point and I had worked myself into a favorable count. He was mixing pitches really well, so I was really trying to get something over the plate. I didn’t know what he’d do, he was commanding the zone early and making all of his pitches for strikes.
“It wasn’t really something that I could sit and wait for a pitch.”
It didn’t take long for everyone at Angels Stadium to recognize where Williamson’s hit was going to land; in the right field bleachers.
As for manager Bruce Bochy, he knew right away.
Williamson earns the praises of Bochy, as he should. #SFGiants pic.twitter.com/RDOOyaJOBc
— Keaton A. Moore (@KeatonAMoore) April 21, 2018
“When he hit it, I knew it was out,” Bruce Bochy said. “He crushed it. Good for Mac, first game back, for him to do that. He’s got to be riding so high on confidence with the kind of ball he’s been playing down there in Sacramento and to hit a huge home run.
“I mean, we’d been stuck with one run for quite a few games,” Bochy added. “So, he got us off the slide there with his two-run shot. I’m happy for him.”