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 eighth 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 strike three, 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 they could buy him slightly more time by moving his first start to the fifth game of the season.
By then, it’s still unlikely Winn will be built up enough to handle a full starter’s workload.
But, with a little wordplay earlier in the week, Melvin provided an idea of what they could expect from Winn.
“If we can get him to 75 pitches by the time that we would need him to throw 75 pitches, I think that would be,” Melvin said, taking a pause to appreciate what was about to come, “a win. That was off the cuff. Didn’t even think about that one ahead of time. Thank you, thank you.”
Webb goes 6
For as unsettled as the backend of the Giants’ rotation is, they are counting on stability from Webb, their ace, who made his fifth start of the spring and pitched into the sixth inning for the first time. Striking out eight without walking a batter, Webb said he “felt more like myself today” with his changeup in especially good form.
Webb, however, allowed four runs over 5⅓ innings and has yet to complete a clean outing this spring. His ERA in Cactus League play is 9.00.
“I know it turns into a zero in a week and a half, so I’m not incredibly worried about it,” Webb said. “But I’m starting to get tired of giving up that many runs.”
To get him his sixth “up,” Melvin pulled Webb with an out left to record in the fifth. A pair of hits put him in a sticky situation, but he struck out the next batter for the second out of the inning and coaxed a soft roller up the third-base line that should have been the third out. The ball, however, was hit so softly that Webb had no play, prolonging the inning. Minor leaguer Mat Olsen relieved Webb and allowed one of his two inherited runners to score.
“I’ve been pretty bad at getting out of situations,” Webb said. “I almost got out of it in the fifth but (I made) kind of a bad pitch selection.”
Melvin was more forgiving, noting the backdoor sliders he located to left-handed hitters. “I thought he was way better today,” he said.
