Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
SCOTTSDALE — Gabe Kapler has said the Giants will be transparent about their depth charts, letting players have access to them so they see where they stand.
Wilmer Flores will see his name all over the place.
He took ground balls at first and second on Tuesday, Day Two of full-squad workouts at Scottsdale Stadium. He said he’ll take ground balls at third Wednesday, a position at which he struggled in limited looks last season. Does he know how the Giants plan to use him?
“I don’t know,” he said simply. He’ll be in touch with Kapler.
The Giants will play him all over and hope they can play him at DH if they can (though Flores prefers playing the field). The righty bat can platoon with Brandon Belt at first or get reps at second, though Donovan Solano enters camp with a hold of that spot. Flores is part of the impressive depth the club has built that will benefit them after playing such a long season, but could become complicated early as they try to find at-bats for everyone.
And the Giants want his bat in the lineup after he hit more home runs (12) in 55 games than he hit in 2019 (nine) in 89 games with Arizona.
He credited the mindset that Donnie Ecker, Justin Viele and Dustin Lind have instilled in him that allowed his power to explode.
“Just getting better pitches to hit. I think years before I just wanted to put the ball in play, and last year I wanted to do damage,” said Flores, who also said he used his back leg more. “That comes with what pitches you want to swing at.
Catcher Curt Casali caught bullpen sessions after offseason hamate surgery. Casali may not play the first spring game or two as they lay a long ramp for him, Kapler said, but the manager is happy with his progression.
The Scottsdale Stadium stands began getting roped off as the park prepares for hosting 750-1,000 fans for home games. There was plenty of positive feeling around the team about playing in front of fans again.
“I miss that,” Evan Longoria said. “I was actually thinking about it when I was coming out of the batting cage, coming onto the field today. You take it for granted, but now those little bursts of adrenaline that you get when you are going onto the field or you were going from the back field to the locker room or whatever it is — when there were fans around who were watching you do everything. You realize how much they boost you through your day, especially when you’re doing stuff you don’t want to do but know you have to do.”