SAN FRANCISCO — Johnny Cueto will wake up on the first day of May with a 0.84 ERA. It has been a sparkling month for the right-hander, from start to finish.
For others, April was quite often a month they couldn’t wait to leave. There are plenty of slow starters in that clubhouse, but Bruce Bochy has stood behind them, saying day after day that “it’s early” and “these guys are too good to play like this all year.”
Perhaps we’re seeing that patience pay off.
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Evan Longoria, the early-season target for most fans, came out of his slump on the last road trip. He has stayed hot, and his two-run double in the eighth Saturday was the back-breaker in an 8-3 win over the Dodgers.
Austin Jackson, another offseason addition, has fallen from the leadoff spot to the slot directly in front of the pitcher. He was 10-for-48 against left-handers coming into Saturday’s game, and Bochy felt he was pressing. You can bet team executives started to talk about what to do with Jackson once Mac Williamson and Hunter Pence get healthy and Steven Duggar gets a bit more work in Triple-A. But he broke through with a bases-clearing double early Saturday that turned a deficit into a one-run lead that held up.
“It started with him. That was a huge hit,” Bochy said. “We got pummeled pretty good the first game. We needed someone to come through and he did.”
Then there’s Sam Dyson, the closer-turned-mop-up-guy. Dyson had such a rough spring that Bochy had to use him in low-leverage situations most of the month while he sorted out his mechanics. Dyson came out throwing 96 mph lasers at Chase Field on the last trip and since has elevated back to a set-up role. He entered with the bases loaded and no outs in the seventh Saturday and got out of the jam with the Giants still leading.
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“He saved us,” Bochy said. “His stuff is back and his confidence is back. He’s back to the Sam we knew from last year. I consider him a power arm and it can take a little longer to find your stuff and control, and it looks like he’s there.”
The timing couldn’t be better for the Giants to have some players break through. Joe Panik was put on the DL on Saturday and Bochy admitted late in the day that Panik could be headed for thumb ligament surgery. If he needs it, he’s likely looking at a couple of months on the sidelines. Williamson hit the concussion DL on Saturday, too, and the bullpen was so battered that D.J. Snelten got a 3:30 call telling him to jump in a car and head from Sacramento to San Francisco to help out.
Snelten ended up making his MLB debut in the eighth and batting in the bottom of the inning. He started the ninth, too, but ran out of gas. Snelten said he was headed to the River Cats game when he realized he forgot something at home and needed to turn back. That’s when he got the call. What did he forget?
“My wallet,” he said, laughing.