Latest news with #Tenex
San Francisco Chronicle
22-05-2025
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
Where would Giants be without Wilmer Flores? ‘I'd hate to find out,' GM says
Almost a third of the way through the season, the San Francisco Giants have one of the best records in the National League, close behind the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers. And, as of Wednesday morning, Wilmer Flores was just one RBI behind both mighty Aaron Judge and the Cubs' Seiya Suzuki for the league lead. These two rather shocking developments are definitely related. On a Giants team where offense is a precious commodity, Flores seems to be single-handedly keeping the team in contention. Where would they be without him? 'I'd hate to find out,' general manager Zack Minasian said Wednesday. The Giants' offensive struggles were on display in the final game of their homestand, as they dropped both the game and series to Kansas City. When the Royals jumped on starter Logan Webb early, scoring three runs in the first two innings, the odds were not in the Giants' favor and they fell 8-4. Webb was hard on himself after the game, saying he 'brought the vibes down.' 'It'd be nice to take some pressure off the pitching,' manager Bob Melvin said. What will the Giants do to improve their offense? Even Wilmer has a rough day now and then, as he did on Wednesday when he couldn't come to the rescue despite several RBI opportunities. 'It's really hard to envision where we'd be without him right now,' Melvin said. Last fall, there seemed a very good chance the Giants would have to envision being without Flores. After struggling for the first half of the 2024 season, Flores opted to shut it down and have a Tenex procedure to address the painful tendinitis in his right knee that had hampered him badly. 'Last year was not fun,' Flores said. Flores opted for the procedure because he had the security of a player-option for the final year of his contract. If he hadn't had that clause, he says he likely would have struggled through the injury all season. But in November he exercised his $3.5 million option, eager to prove that, when healthy, his woeful 2024 numbers were a fluke. 'I always want to prove myself because, as a big league player, you know what you can do,' he said. The Giants weren't so sure. Flores' option was low enough that the Giants could have swallowed it and moved on. But new president of baseball operations Buster Posey was a teammate of Flores in 2021 and knew not only what he could do at the plate ('one of the more elite hitters,' Posey has called him) but also what he does in the clubhouse, as a popular leader. Besides, the Giants weren't exactly brimming with offensive producers. So Flores got another chance with the team he's called home since 2020. 'They have treated me like family since day one,' Flores said. 'I love it here and I definitely wanted to come back and prove myself.' The Giants still weren't certain what Flores could contribute. 'I was unsure,' Melvin said. 'But then he got to spring training and he looked a lot better. His batting practice had a different sound, he was hitting balls into the seats. So we were encouraged.' The Giants expected Flores to platoon at first base as he has in the past. But Jerar Encarnacion's injury just days before the season opener changed that equation, opening up the designated hitter slot for Flores. 'He hit that home run that first day in Cincinnati, and now you see what he's accomplished,' Melvin said. 'He's a pretty driven guy. Quietly, I think internally, he had something to prove.' Wilmer is not only a fan favorite — clapping along to the theme from 'Friends' when he walks to the plate is now an Oracle Park tradition — he's a favorite in the clubhouse, universally lauded as a steady, easy-going team leader. 'When we have hitters' meetings and he talks, the room gets real quiet,' Melvin said. Flores' contributions have come in many ways, as he showed over the weekend, with his three homer, eight-RBI game last Friday, followed Saturday by a bases-loaded, nine-pitch walk in the 10th inning to walk-off the Athletics. He's had a knack for the clutch hit with runners on base. Melvin said younger players can learn from watching Flores at the plate. 'I think they're learning that each bat has its own personality and how you handle it,' he said. 'Sometimes it's not a three-run homer, it's a single to right, or shooting the ball through the hole between first and second on a walk-off. It's just knowing what each takes.' Another thing about Flores: he loves stepping to the plate at Oracle Park. He doesn't buy into the perception that it's unfriendly to hitters, and he has had success at home. Coming into Wednesday's game he was batting .349 at home, tenth highest in the majors, and his 21 RBIs at home (half of his total) were tied for sixth most. 'There are places where you just feel good,' Flores said. 'I've always liked it here, even when I first came as a visitor. I just like playing here.' Flores doesn't take a lot of credit for where the Giants are 50 games into the season. 'If the pitching keeps you in the game, you have a chance to win every day,' he said. 'We need to score some runs to win, but they're keeping us in every game.' And so is Wilmer Flores. Thanks to that bargain player option, the Giants have one of the top RBI producers in the game. The question is, can they clone him?
New York Times
17-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Giants are starting from an especially healthy place as spring camp fully opens
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — It's become a familiar part of spring training, right up there with PFP (pitcher fielding practice), intrasquad games and overpriced beer. The slow play. As in, 'We are going to slow play Player X this spring.' Lest anyone forget, spring training consists of practice and games that (while increasingly expensive to attend) don't matter. It makes sense to be mindful of load management for every player this time of year, especially the guys who are coming off surgeries. Or injury-shortened seasons. Or guys who carried a heavier workload last year. Invariably, some players will arrive in camp with a strained something-or-other that they sustained in their offseason training. At the opening of camp, every whiteboard in every manager's office will list at least a handful of players who aren't cleared to participate in on-field activities or play in exhibition games. Advertisement So this might be the most remarkable thing about an otherwise placid and unremarkable first week at San Francisco Giants camp leading up to Monday's first full-squad workout: Aside from catcher Tom Murphy and infielder Tyler Fitzgerald, who are dealing with minor back tightness, manager Bob Melvin's group reported to Scottsdale Stadium with no physical restrictions. Everyone is full go. That includes: • Center fielder Jung Hoo Lee, who underwent season-ending shoulder surgery last May. Lee should be in the lineup for the Giants' first exhibition game Saturday against the Texas Rangers at Surprise, and if he gets his way, he'll lead the team in spring at-bats. He says he won't be tentative on the bases or in the outfield, either, despite having sustained two shoulder dislocations. 'There are no limitations told to me,' Lee said. 'If I'm playing with limitations in the outfield, I think I'm not prepared for the game. So for now, I am prepared.' • Right-hander Keaton Winn, who had ulnar nerve transposition surgery at the end of July. Winn hit 95.5 mph in his last bullpen session and is still ramping up while trying to add 1 mph each time. He says it's the best his arm has felt in two years, which is why he isn't too concerned that the starting rotation is mostly filled out as is. They might enter this season less dependent on Winn as a rotation piece than they were last year, but they still view him as a starting pitcher. If he's throwing a 98 mph two-seamer again, he'll get opportunities. 'I actually feel like a normal boy,' Winn said. 'A real boy.' • Infielder Wilmer Flores, who had a Tenex procedure on his ailing right knee in August. Flores realizes that he probably wouldn't be here if he didn't have a player side of his mutual option that he could exercise for $3.5 million. He said he finished his rehab two months ago and is confident he can return to the form that allowed him to hit a team-best 23 home runs in 2023. Advertisement 'I didn't want to stop playing,' Flores said. 'This year I want to show that I still got it. And I don't want to leave San Francisco. I wanted to stay here. So it was good that I had the option.' • Left-hander Kyle Harrison, who dealt with shoulder inflammation and diminished stuff through most of a rookie season that came to a premature end. Harrison has touched 95 mph in side sessions and appears to be throwing from an even lower arm slot, which might add to his Chris Sale-inspired deception. He says he wants to establish himself as a strikeout pitcher again after fanning 14.6 per nine innings in the minors but just 8.7 per nine in the majors. 'A hundred percent, that's what I want to get back to,' Harrison said. 'My body wasn't in the right spot to be able to do that. I'm moving so much cleaner now and more efficiently. I'm so excited because I know how good I can be when I'm fully healthy.' • Right-hander Jordan Hicks, who was running on fumes by June while transitioning from short relief to the rotation last season, moved to the bullpen in the second half and was shut down with shoulder fatigue in September. Hicks spent nearly the entire offseason in San Francisco working out at Oracle Park and packed on 15 pounds of muscle. There's no hedging from anyone in the Giants organization: Hicks will open the season as a starting pitcher and there's optimism that he'll be able to thrive in that role far deeper into the season. 'I think he took a lot from last year into this year and is applying it now,' Melvin said. 'I think it's a better mindset. Physically, he's better prepared for it. Just watching his bullpens, the way he goes through his bullpens, it's more starter mode than a reliever trying to be a starter.' • First baseman LaMonte Wade Jr., who played cautiously on a touch-and-go hamstring for most of the second half and has dealt with recurring leg injuries during his time as a Giant. Advertisement Wade, a free agent after this season, said he focused on strengthening his legs while working out at the University of Maryland over the winter. He comes to camp with so much confidence that he told Melvin that he's open to playing some outfield this spring. 'I'm not trying to do anything special,' Wade said. 'I'm just trying to be healthy all season and last the whole season without going on the (injured list) again, or whatever.' • Outfielder Wade Meckler, whose patience was tried for three months last year as he waited for his mysterious left-hand pain to go away. Meckler finally got over the hump after a cortisone shot but spent the final two months at Triple-A Sacramento attempting to unlearn bad mechanical habits at the plate. He's spraying the ball all over the field in batting practice again, and he added some strength in the offseason, too. The Giants plan to give him some work at second base in addition to the outfield. 'I feel a lot more physical,' said Meckler, who owns a .328 average across three minor league seasons. 'I feel I got a little faster this offseason as well. Which is, you know, good.' Even non-roster invitees like right-hander Lou Trivino, who had Tommy John surgery to reconstruct his elbow ligament in 2023 and was shut down during a rehab assignment last September because of shoulder pain, is starting camp on an equal footing and throwing bullpen sessions along with all the other relievers. It won't stay this way, of course. Murphy already won the prize that nobody wants: the first MRI exam of the spring. The Giants will have to employ the slow-play strategy where needed this spring. But an almost injury-free camp is a pretty good place to start. (Top photo of Jordan Hicks: Suzanna Mitchell / San Francisco Giants / Getty Images)
