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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Even with only days left in camp, the Giants still haven’t settled their position battle in the outfield.
On Wednesday, the team announced it added to its depth at the position, signing veteran Matt Joyce to a minor-league deal after he was released earlier in the week by the Cleveland Indians. The move gives manager Bruce Bochy one more new face to test out before the Giants’ Cactus League finale on Saturday.
“I’m going to get him in there as much as I can,” Bochy said Wednesday. “He’s in the mix.”
Joyce isn’t the only one.
San Francisco has only three outfielders on the active roster right now – Steven Duggar, Drew Ferguson and Mac Williamson – but plenty of other non-roster invitees who are pushing for opening-day roster spots, including veterans Gerardo Parra and Cameron Maybin as well as former Boston Red Sox fifth-round pick Henry Ramos.
Joyce, 34, will join that group for the final few days of spring training. In his 11-year MLB career, the left-hander has hit only .240 but reaches base at a .339 clip. The former Detroit Tigers 12th-round pick had his most successful season with the Tampa Bay Rays between 2009-2014, including a selection to the All-Star Game in 2011. In 2015, he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels before signing with the Pittsburgh Pirates for the 2016 season. Joyce spent the past two years playing on the other side of the Bay with the Oakland A’s, where he hit .208 in an injury-shortened season last year after swatting a career-high 25 home runs in 2017.
Though Joyce was just 5 for 27 with Cleveland this spring, his on-base abilities were likely attractive to the Giants and new president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, who has said earlier this spring the club wouldn’t be hesitant to bolster its options in the outfield.
Bochy still didn’t name any official outfielder starters on Wednesday, though Duggar, Parra and Williamson are considered the three most likely to make the roster. At left field alone, Bochy said there could be multiple players getting playing time this season.
“I think it’s going to be a position where two or three guys are going to get playing time out there, depending who is pitching,” Bochy said. “We can go with matchups and things like that. If someone steps up and runs with it, that would be great too.”
Beede, Black not ‘out of mind’ despite option to minors
During the Giants’ off day on Tuesday, the club announced it had optioned right-handed pitchers Tyler Beede and Ray Black to minor league camp. Both pitchers are top-30 prospects in the organization, according to MLB.com, and pitched well this spring. Black, 28, had a 3.38 ERA in 5 1/3 innings across six appearances, while Beede, 24, collected a 6.10 ERA in 10 1/3 innings.
Despite Beede’s high ERA, Bochy called him one of the most impressive young arms this spring for the Giants.
“He really came in with a different mindset,” Bochy said. “He opened up a lot of eyes with the spring he had, with the stuff and command. He just needs to carry that into the season. This guy is knocking on the door now.”
Bochy said, for now, the Giants aren’t looking at moving Beede to the bullpen, even with a backlog of starting pitchers in the organization.
“All he has to do is go down and do what he did here, and he’s on the fast track to get back up here,” Bochy said.
Bochy indicated that Black could also get back up to the big leagues this season. Last season, Black appeared in 26 games and finished the year with a 6.17 ERA.
“The fact that they’re down there doesn’t mean it’s out of sight, out of mind,” Bochy said.
The moves left the Giants with 37 players in camp before Joyce was signed Wednesday.
