Culture

SF Giants-Rockies: Keaton Winn makes long-awaited debut, Logan Webb goes six


SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Finally, in the last week of spring training, there is visual evidence of the Giants’ fourth starter.

Keaton Winn made his long-awaited Cactus League debut Sunday in relief of Logan Webb, taking down 1⅔ innings in a 5-3 loss to the Rockies that looked like the first the 26-year-old had pitched in a game this spring. He was a little wild and allowed some hard contact but showed off his signature splitter while striking out three batters.

Of utmost importance, though, was that the fourth piece of a still-unsolved five-part puzzle appears to be in place.

“Next time it’ll be a little longer,” manager Bob Melvin said, “but I thought he looked good.”

Winn was one of the young pitchers the Giants had earmarked spots for in their rotation, along with Kyle Harrison and Tristan Beck, but shortly into camp he was shut down out of precaution when his elbow started barking after a bullpen session. Now, with Beck’s health opening a hole in the fifth spot, getting Winn into midseason form — or as close to it as possible in this short time frame — only becomes more significant.

Knowing the stakes, all Winn could do for most of camp was wait. He spent more time in the training room than the pitcher’s mound.

“It’s been pretty mentally exhausting,” Winn said. “But now’s the time to take it slow. It’s a long year. I’m just trying to listen to the trainers, listen to myself. I would say, yeah, it was hard.”

With that as the backdrop, Winn took the mound to begin the seventh inning with mixed emotions of determination and satisfaction. He put away the first batter he faced on four pitches, finishing him off with a swing through a splitter, but then walked the next batter on four pitches.

He allowed one run on two hits, a walk and a hit batsman but evaded more damage by inducing a timely ground ball to Casey Schmitt, who was playing in and fired home to catch the lead runner attempting to score, and a strikeout of his final batter with another potential run 90 feet away at third.

His fastball topped out at 97 mph, and Winn estimated he was throwing at “close to 100%” intensity.

“The four-seam, the sinker, they both felt great,” Winn said. “I think I need to get some higher intensity reps with the split. Trying to get the feel back for it. The movement was still pretty good, close to what it was last year. It’s just the feel for it. …

“The biggest thing is my arm feels really good. It’s like, if I feel good, then why not try to push it just a little bit?”

Winn moved to the outfield bullpen after he was lifted from the game, estimating he threw 30-35 pitches in total.

The way the schedule sets up, it would be difficult to skip Winn’s turn the first time through the rotation. The Giants don’t have an off day until after their seventh game of the year. But …read more

Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment

      

(Visited 3 times, 1 visits today)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *