SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Stepping into the batter’s box Monday afternoon for the first time with the San Francisco Giants, Jorge Soler cocked the two-toned Marucci bat over his right shoulder and, on the very first pitch he saw, unloaded with a fury.
The black barrel of 34-inch, 31.5-ounce piece of wood flew through strike zone. But all it connected with was air.
“That wasn’t the idea,” Soler, cracking a smile, said through Spanish-language interpreter Erwin Higueros. “But the pitcher threw a fastball right down the middle and the bat just slipped out of my hands.”
The big slugger came out swinging in his Giants debut, but the preview of what’s to come, they hope, was what followed.
A few pitches later, Soler cracked a line-drive single into left field, recording a hit in his first exhibition at-bat with his new team. And when he stepped to the plate for his next at-bat, in the third inning, Wilmer Flores was standing on third base in a prime scoring opportunity for the club’s new RBI man.
Soler got another fastball — 98 mph — and didn’t miss this time, ripping a ground ball up the middle that snuck through the defense playing on the cut of the infield grass. Flores, who helped recruit Soler to San Francisco, trotted home.
It was the first time in three spring exhibitions the Giants had manufactured a run besides the four-spot they put up when down to their final out in the Cactus League opener.
The offense would eventually awaken, but the Giants (0-2-1) were left still searching for their first win of the exhibition schedule, falling to the Angels, 11-9.
“He’s a run producer,” said manager Bob Melvin. “Our situational hitting has not been good, and he goes up there with an approach not to just hit the ball out of the ballpark. … You watch him take batting practice. It’s not all about hitting homers. He knows how to get himself ready.”
A rude welcome
Potentially the Giants’ next pitching prospect to graduate to the majors, Mason Black got the nod in their third exhibition of the spring.
Immediately, Ehire Adrianza welcomed him to the big leagues.
The Angels shortstop unloaded on the first pitch out of Black’s hand, placing it on the berm beyond the left-field wall.
“It happens,” Black said. “I was just thinking, ‘First pitch, let’s just throw a fastball.’ It ended up middle-middle, and he kind of made me pay for it.”
The 24-year-old right-hander settled in for his second inning, retiring the side in order, with a little help from Logan Webb.
The staff ace, who’s growing into a clubhouse leader, approached Black on the bench between innings.
“He just say, ‘Hey, go out there and relax. You have more time than you think. Use all the time you need,’ ” Black recalled. “That kind of settled me down. I think that really helped me out. … I would say the first inning I wasn’t executing at as high of a level as I would have liked, but I was happy with the bounceback in the second inning. It’s a place to build on for the future.”
Luciano ‘few more days’ away
After being scratched from their spring opener, rookie shortstop Marco Luciano was supposed to make his debut Monday.
But the 22-year-old top prospect was again absent from the lineup, replaced by Tyler Fitzgerald, as he battles a nagging hamstring.
Melvin said that Luciano will need “a few more days” before he gets into game action. He attempted to run on it Sunday, “and it still wasn’t there,” Melvin said.
Potentially of more interest, on the day they brought veteran shortstop Nick Ahmed into camp, was Luciano getting in pregame work at second base.
“Shortstop’s his position,” Melvin reaffirmed afterward. “Guys tend to get different looks in the middle of the infield, regardless.”
