SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- All eyes were on the pitchers Friday when Logan Webb and Kyle Harrison went back-to-back during a live BP session. But when asked about it a day later, manager Gabe Kapler quickly pivoted to a position player.
While a lot of veterans prefer to track pitches early in camp, catcher Austin Wynns took an aggressive approach to all of his plate appearances, welcoming Harrison with a hard single up the middle. A day later, Wynns was a standout during a creative and wild drill that bullpen coach Craig Albernaz put the catchers through, leading some of the younger catchers and also making a couple of barehanded grabs on pop-ups.
Wynns is one of four catchers in the mix for two Opening Day jobs, along with Joey Bart, Roberto Pérez and Blake Sabol. Taken off the 40-man roster in January, Wynns is the only one of the group who is in the non-roster invitee locker room, not the big league one, but he's certainly keeping himself in the mix.
"He knows he's competing and that was a really, really good first impression in camp," Kapler said of the live BP session.
Acquired during the 2022 season, Wynns quickly won pitchers over and at times was the preferred choice for some on staff. He'll never be a middle-of-the-order option, but his 90 OPS+ was the best of his career.
When the Giants took Wynns off the 40-man in early January to clear a spot for Michael Conforto, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said right away that he hoped Wynns would return to the organization. Kapler got in touch with him, too, saying Saturday that he assured Wynns he would still be in the mix for a job.
"We let him know he was important to us," he added.
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Wynns would appear to be a long shot to make the initial roster. While the Giants have publicly and privately said they want Bart to have to win his job this spring, teammates fully expect him to be on the roster. Pérez comes with the most big league success and two Gold Gloves in the not-too-distant past. Sabol will get every opportunity to prove his worth as a Rule 5 pick.
Asked about Wynns' standing, Kapler pointed out that this position is nothing new to him. Wynns has spent time in Triple-A in each of the last four minor league seasons.
"He's constantly in the space of fighting for his position, wherever that is," Kapler said. "He believes he's a big leaguer and that he belongs in the big leagues, but at the same time he's not unfamiliar with having to fight for it. I think he would have loved the opportunity to come into camp as one of our two Major League catchers, but he understands that that's not a luxury that most catchers have and that you really have to earn that over a long period of time."
-- Catcher/infielder Brett Auerbach was one of the stories of camp a year ago and won the Barney Nugent Award, given to the player who performed best in their first big league camp, but he won't be at Scottsdale Stadium this spring despite initially being listed among the non-roster invitees. Auerbach has left elbow neuritis, which will keep him out of action, although the Giants don't have long-term concerns.
Without Auerbach, who spent last season in Double-A, the Giants added Andy Thomas as an additional non-roster catcher. He was acquired last year in the deal that sent Curt Casali and Matt Boyd to Seattle.
-- There was one notable absence from Monday's first full squad workout. Wilmer Flores will be a few days late reporting to camp because he has a child due any day now.
-- Cole Waites would have pushed for an Opening Day job in the bullpen, but the right-hander has lat inflammation that will sideline him at the start of camp. It flared up about two weeks ago when he was throwing, but an MRI at the start of camp came back clean.
Waites will be behind, but said the recovery is going well and he is hopeful that it will only be by a few missed days or a week at the start of the season. With Luke Jackson (Tommy John surgery) likely to start the year on the 60-day IL, the Giants could certainly use Waites in the mix in April and May.
-- The Giants are still finalizing plans for visiting instructors, with the hope that Barry Bonds and (owner) Buster Posey both show up. One player is locked in, though: Hunter Pence. He'll be in camp in a roving role, with an emphasis on helping on the mental skills side and being part of the group led by Shana Alexander.
"Hunter could be great in that regard and we're going to kind of introduce him in that way," Kapler said. "But he's also going to kind of roam around and get to know people and get in where he fits in. We just trust him to make an impact in his own way. We're not going to structure things for him."
-- The Giants really should just have John Brebbia mic'd up the entire season, as evidenced by this video from a full day he had in camp. One of the highlights was Brebbia talking to Jakob Junis about two-way player Ronald Guzman.
"Am I crazy -- isn't that Ronald Guzman, the hitter?" Brebbia asked Junis. "He absolutely launched balls off me and now he's going to take my job?"
Guzman is trying to reinvent himself as a hard-throwing left-handed reliever, who also happens to have enough power that he once hit 16 homers in a big league season. For now, the Giants will primarily have him focus on pitching, and the early bullpen sessions have been impressive. Kapler said Guzman has impressive shapes on his pitches and good feel of two breaking balls. There might be something there.
"He sees himself as a guy who can pitch out of the bullpen late in games and I don't think there's any reason why he can't at some point," Kapler said. "We're going to have to see it against hitters because we've seen it in 'pens and it's been impressive, but we haven't really seen him face hitters yet."
-- Anthony DeSclafani will face hitters this week for the first time since having ankle surgery last year. It's been smooth sailing so far for the right-hander, and the Giants expect him to be ready to be in the rotation at the start of the year.
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-- Michael Conforto will be a DH early in camp, but there are no concerns about his ability to play the outfield by the opener. In fact, Conforto is coming along quicker than the Giants anticipated after missing all of 2022 because of shoulder surgery.
"The carry on his ball (when he throws) makes me feel like he can play left or right, whereas there was a point where you're like, I wonder if it's going to be Mitch (Haniger) in right, Michael in left, just so that Michael can continue to build up his arm strength," Kapler said. "But I feel like it's going to be ready."
It's early. It's spring training. The usual caveats apply, but the Giants certainly are thrilled to have Conforto headed for the heart of their lineup. He was a standout in BP on Monday and nearly took Junis deep to left during a live BP session.
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