Giants observations: Roupp impresses in Cactus League opener originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SURPRISE, Ariz. — For a moment on Saturday morning, it looked like the first spring training game of the Giants season might be delayed by reunions.
Bruce Bochy walked out onto the field and immediately saw Bob Melvin, and while the two chatted, a steady stream of Giants came out of the dugout to see the four-time World Series champion. There was Pat Burrell and Ron Wotus, and then Triple-A manager Dave Brundage and longtime trainer Anthony Reyes. On and on it went, and the crowd got bigger when Texas Rangers hitting coaches Donnie Ecker and Justin Viele walked over. Several coaches and players ran out to hug the two former Giants coaches.
Once the game started, Sam Huff starred against his former Rangers teammates and Nick Ahmed and Joc Pederson took at-bats in blue. It was nothing but handshakes and hugs as the Cactus League season kicked off, with the last set going to the Giants. They won their opener 6-1 and gathered on the mound afterward.
The story early was the automatic ball-strike system and Huff, a candidate to be the backup catcher. After the game, the attention was on Bryce Eldridge, who homered in his Cactus League debut. Here are three more takeaways from all the action in between:
Landen Locks In
A year ago at this time, the Giants had no plans to have Landen Roupp on their Opening Day roster. But the right-hander was so sharp that he left them no choice — and then posted a 3.58 ERA as a rookie.
Roupp primarily was a reliever but showed enough as a fill-in starter late in the season that he will get a shot this spring to compete with Kyle Harrison, Hayden Birdsong and Keaton Winn for the fifth spot in the rotation. On Saturday, he walked one and struck out three in two hitless innings. Roupp was particularly sharp in the second, freezing Pederson with an inside sinker and then getting Adolis Garcia on a big curve.
“Today was a lot better than (my bullpens) have been and I’m glad it was in a game,” Roupp said. “I felt really good today.”
Roupp would have to be pretty dominant this spring to pass both Harrison (who is a week behind because he got sick right before camp) and Birdsong (who will back up Logan Webb on Sunday), but he still looks like someone who will be on the initial roster. There are at least a couple of bullpen spots available, and it’s hard to see how the Giants will have better options than Roupp, who did well…