Play Ball!

Feb 21, 2026 | Latest Post, Out of Left Field

by DrLefty

It’s here: The first day of spring baseball, as the Giants try to defend their Cactus League Championship!  (OK, yeah, I know. When the Giants got off to a hot start last season, their strong spring record seemed like it mattered. But then…it’s a long season, and it didn’t matter.)

My expectations for this year’s Cactus League play are moderated by the fact that a number of important players, including the presumed Opening Day starting pitcher and the entire starting outfield, will be leaving the team in a week or so to join their respective World Baseball Classic (WBC) squads. That, along with a new manager and a mostly new coaching staff, may make it harder to get a read on how this year’s team is going to look, at least this early on.

Nonetheless, it’s still exciting. I usually put the game day info at the bottom of my post during the season, but today it’s the most important information.

 

Today’s Game

Giants at Mariners, 12:10 p.m., Peoria Stadium

Radio: KNBR; TV: MLB TV free game of the day

Hayden Birdsong vs. Emerson Hancock

And we already have a lineup! Remember that in spring road games, you don’t usually see many veterans, so here it is.

 

Camp News

I think the Tony Vitello “rant” on Monday, about how his departure from Tennessee was blighted by the news of his imminent hire being leaked before he could tell people himself, has been already covered plenty by Bay Area media. Was it a good look? Not particularly. Does it mean anything much? Maybe, but probably not. For the “this is horrible” take, you can read Dieter Kurtenbach. For a generous read, check out Bruce Jenkins’ column in the Chronicle from yesterday. For Ann Killion being Ann Killion, you can read that one. Anyway, moving on to a couple of other interesting stories from this past week.

 

Luis Arráez

Andrew Baggarly has a great new article in The Athletic which highlights the point that with Luis Arráez and Jung Hoo Lee in the Giants’ lineup, they now have two of the best contact hitters in the game. He does a deep dive on the history of the hit-and-run play as a strategy, but what I really liked about the story was how Arráez shows refreshing confidence in himself and his game. I loved when he was first signed and he told the beat writers, in response to a question about his success as a hitter, he said “I hate strikeouts.” The writers laughed and said well yeah, everyone does, but you manage to avoid them. It’s almost like Arráez was saying that because he “hates strikeouts,” he can just decide to be the best contact hitter in 30 years, since Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn.

 

In Baggarly’s story, Arráez explained that sometimes he would call hit-and-run plays himself during an at-bat.

 

“I can’t tell you how. I had a sign for the runner. Sometimes the manager gives it to me. But if I see something, I’ll put it on. Depends on who’s pitching. Maybe he throws a lot of sinkers. Why not?”

It was the “Why not?” that caught my eye. Again, just showing some impressive confidence in his own ability to read a situation and put the bat on the ball–because that’s his superpower. The other part of the Baggs’s story that was super cool were Arráez’s comments about Lee:

“We were just talking about hitting,” Arraez said of Lee. “We talked about my plan when I face those nasty pitchers and I say, ‘Hey, just try to hit the ball up the middle and see what happens.’ He’s almost the same as me. He just has to hit the ball to the middle of the field. But I don’t think he needs to pull the ball. When I saw him hitting, and he hit a groundball to first base, I said to him, ‘Wait for the ball and hit it the other way.’ He’ll be fine. He’s got some power, too. He just needs to touch the ball. And speed! I wish I had his speed. I’d have a lot more hits.”

Arraez also encouraged Lee to bunt for more hits. He’ll encourage Lee to be more aggressive on the bases, too.

“He’s going to be a really good hitter,” Arraez said. “Let’s see what we can do together. Let’s see what happens in the first game.”

It would be a tremendous boost if Arráez could instill some increased confidence in Lee this year–along with what Arráez himself can add to the lineup. Especially if Ron Washington can work his Yoda magic on Arráez’s defense at 2B, this could end up being $12M incredibly well spent. Lee, for his part, is already referring to Arráez as “Louie,” and it sounds like he’s open to being mentored:

“I still have more questions for Louie,” Lee said through Korean interpreter Justin Han. “We hit in the same cage. We’re just getting to know each other. He’s one of the best contact hitters. Just having him around the clubhouse and off the field will be a big help for me. I’m excited to be around him this season.”

[…]

“That’s what you call elite confidence there,” Lee said of Arraez. “I’m wishing that Louie and I can poke on the pitcher a lot this season. I’m also very confident making contact with the ball, so with Louie and I in the same lineup, you guys are gonna see a lot of fun stuff.”

Baggs didn’t mention this, but it also occurred to me that Arráez could connect with catching prospect Jesus Rodriguez, a fellow Venezuelan who also has strong bat-to-ball skills. Anyway, when I first heard the Giants were signing Arráez, I was a bit puzzled by it, and my first thought was “thank goodness we have Ron Washington on the coaching staff.” Now, though, I get it, and especially after observing his personality and not just his Baseball Reference page, I think this could be an extremely savvy addition to this year’s team.

 

Young Pitchers

It was only the first full week of camp, but some of the most encouraging stories emerging were about how some of the young pitchers are looking in their bullpen and batting practice sessions. For example, Carson Seymour got attention when he struck out Arráez. It is not too hyperbolic to say that how/if the cadre of young pitchers progresses may make or break this season. Some of them will be needed in the bullpen. Some will be “next man up” in a fragile and thin rotation. Last year, those pitchers mostly disappointed. So it’s very important that at least some of them can take a step forward. Let’s highlight a few of them.

  • Carson Seymour: Seymour is a big dude who eats a lot of meat and throws power stuff. His major league debut last year was not that impressive–too many walks and way too many homers, many of which came when he was ahead in the count–but he has the arm and the repertoire to be a good addition to the bullpen. There’s some good stuff in this Alex Pavlovic article about Seymour, including some great quotes from new Director of Major League Pitching (and former Tennessee pitching coach) Frank Anderson.
  • Carson Whisenhunt: Whisenhunt, a 2022 draft pick who was considered a steal at the end of the second round, was one of the Giants’ top pitching prospects, especially after Kyle Harrison and Hayden Birdsong graduated from prospect lists. Like the other Carson, his 2025 MLB debut was disappointing, but so far this spring he has looked great, hitting 97 MPH with his fastball and adding a cutter (learned from new coach Christian Wonders) to the mix along with his already elite changeup.
  • Will Bednar: Bednar, of course, was the Giants’ first-round pick (#14) in 2021, and up until now he has been a pretty huge disappointment. In fact, he was eligible for the Rule 5 draft this offseason, the Giants didn’t protect him, and no one took him. However, like Seymour, he also flashed some elite velocity and strikeout stuff as a full-time reliever last season, finally making it as far as AAA Sacramento, and that earned him an invitation to spring training this year. He was interviewed in the latest episode of Giants Talk, and it’s worth a listen–he has a great attitude and is very likable, and it’s easy to root for him. It doesn’t hurt that his older brother, David, is an All-Star closer now pitching for the Yankees. Will mentioned in his interview with Alex Pavlovic that the new pitching coach, Justin Meccage, had worked with his brother when they were with the Pirates. That’s a nice connection.

One thing that struck me in reading articles about the three pitchers above is that all three of the new pitching coaches (Meccage, Anderson, and Wonders) were mentioned in one context or another as helping a young pitcher take a step forward. It’s really, really early yet, but this could be a very important part of this season’s story.

Beyond those three, Trevor McDonald, who made two impressive starts late last season, had a good appearance this week, as shown in the video here.

 

 

And, of course, the most important of all of them is Birdsong, today’s starting pitcher. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but Alex Pavlovic said on an episode of Giants Talk a while back that when pitching coaches were being interviewed, one of the questions they were all asked was “What would you do to fix Hayden Birdsong?” That’s how important the team thinks he is to the Giants’ near future. (I’m also wondering if anyone asked about Ryan Walker, but I haven’t heard anything.)

 

My26ManGuys™ 2026!

As HaakAway has been sharing on the board, it’s time for our annual contest in which we try to pick the 26-man roster that will line up on Opening Night (March 25 vs Yankees at Oracle Park. The winner gets bragging rights and a commemorative pin.

  • To enter, follow this link: https://forms.gle/n8WyRasZ42wdWQVi7
  • Once you enter, save the email confirmation that follows because that allows you to get back to your ballot and make edits.
  • This year’s deadline is March 17, St. Bailey’s Day.

 

In some ways, this year’s contest seems easy. With the possible exception of DH, the lineup is pretty set, and so, it would seem, is the rotation. However, the differentiator is likely to be the bullpen, where there is a large gaggle of possibilities and few sure things. (As data points, you might want to be aware that Joel Peguero has a minor hamstring issue and is behind schedule, and they are slow-playing newcomer Sam Hentges, who may not be ready for Opening Day.) And, of course, there’s the unpredictable matter of injuries that could occur between now and March 25.
Hope we get a lot of entries this year! I know HaakAway always wants at least 24 for obvious reasons, since it’s 2026 and it’s a 26-man roster, I think 26 is the magic (minimum) number we should be shooting for.
As Cactus League games get underway, Luis Arráez has a challenge for us fans. (Can you tell I’m quite taken with this guy?!)

Let’s all take that to heart. Anything is possible in February, right? Lefty out.