Bruce Bochy wants Giants to improve 'ugly' bunting

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona - With just 133 total home runs last season, the second-fewest in all of baseball, the Giants were not a “long ball” team.

Anyone who watched the Giants play last season knows they weren't a “small ball” team, either.

There are plenty of reasons why the Giants finished with just 73 wins in 2018, but the team's offensive ineptitude is high on the list. Though new president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi still hasn't signed a free-agent position player to a major league contract, manager Bruce Bochy believes the Giants have reason to be optimistic about improving their offense this year.

At the very least, they should be better bunters.

“There's room for improvement, that's an area we've got to execute better there,” Bochy said. “There were times, as you know, it was ugly. For lack of a better word.”

The Giants finished 11th in the majors with 33 sacrifice bunts last season, but this particular stat is deceptive. Because American League teams use designated hitters, they are far less likely to send a pitcher to the plate looking to give himself up.

Bochy's Giants ended the year with the 10th-most sacrifice bunts in the National League, but the total number of successful sacrifices doesn't account for the dozens his players failed to execute. And because failed sacrifice attempts are not an official statistic, it's difficult to say objectively whether some teams are better than others at bunting.

The Giants, according to their manager, were worse than most. And with most of the team's rotation returning in 2019, Bochy is determined to devote part of spring to helping his pitchers improve the art of bunting.

“It's ‘Outliers,'” said Bochy, referring to the popular Malcolm Gladwell novel. “10,000 reps and you get pretty good at something. That's the same at bunting.”

Bochy pointed at a handful of pitchers, including Andrew Suarez and Derek Holland, who improved at bunting over the course of the year, noting that Suarez rarely picked up a bat in the minor leagues while Holland spent all of his career prior to last season in the American League.

Lincecum, Cain welcome at camp

If the Giants' pitching staff could use a guest instructor, Bochy has a few names in mind.

The manager said Thursday he hoped former Giants Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain would stop by camp this spring. Though neither would likely end up coaching bunt techniques, Bochy said he would love to see Lincecum and Cain in Scottsdale.

“Those guys have done so much for the organization and for me, shoot, I'd love to have them here,” Bochy said.

Cain mostly stayed away from the Giants in his first year of retirement while Bochy tried to arrange a visit with Lincecum during the summer. When the Giants flew up to Seattle to play the Mariners last July, Bochy sought out Lincecum, who lives in the area. Bochy said Lincecum was traveling, but he hopes to connect soon.

Hanson in the outfield

The Giants are prioritizing versatility this season and perhaps no player stands to benefit more than utilityman Alen Hanson.

The switch-hitting Hanson played all over the diamond in his first season with the Giants last year and Bochy said the plan this spring calls for Hanson to do more of the same.

“He'll get some work (at shortstop) and he'll just give us depth really at every position,” Bochy said. “We want him moving pretty much to a different position every day or every other day.”

Hanson is one of the fastest players in baseball and will earn opportunities to showcase that speed in the outfield this spring. He'll be joined in the outfield by corner infielder Ryder Jones, who is expected to earn a few chances in left field this spring.

Bochy said utility infielder Abiatal Avelino would spend most of spring in the infield, but didn't rule out the possibility of trying Avelino in one of the corners.