SCOTTSDALE -- The number absolutely jumps off the page. It's a level that even Juan Soto, the game's best on-base machine, has found hard to reach.
When LaMonte Wade Jr. hurt his hamstring last year, he was carrying a .470 on-base percentage. It wasn't the middle of April, either. Wade went down two months into the season, and from that point on he never felt the same.
The first baseman rushed to get back for the historic game at Rickwood Field but fell short. When he did make it back after a month of rehab, Wade knew his left leg was compromised and he couldn't drive the ball, but his eye remained strong enough that he finished the year with a .380 on-base percentage. Now entering his fifth, and possibly final season in San Francisco, Wade said he had just one offseason goal.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
"To move better," he said Sunday. "I'm not trying to do anything special, I'm just trying to be healthy and last the whole season without going on the IR. I'm not trying to do anything crazy. Just trying to be healthy."
A healthy Wade would be the primary starter at first base and likely Bob Melvin's leadoff hitter. Wade said he spent the offseason back home in Maryland, doing more running work than in the past. It was sprints and treadmill time and also some long distance, anything and everything to get his legs under him ahead of the 2025 season. While the hamstring bothered him last year it has been the knee in the past, but Wade said everything feels good at the moment.
Melvin said he was encouraged that Wade volunteered to play some outfield this season, a sign of how good he feels physically. Right now, the Giants don't need him there, although if Bryce Eldridge arrives during the summer, that could be an option.
It was Eldridge's looming presence -- and the organization's interest in Paul Goldschmidt and some other veterans -- that led Wade to end up in some offseason trade rumors, but he said he didn't pay attention to any of that as he prepared for his final season before free agency. The goal every day was simple: Get his leg back to 100 percent so he can be the hitter he showed in April and May last year.
San Francisco Giants
Find the latest San Francisco Giants news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
Worth Watching
The Giants are light behind Patrick Bailey, so it's not great that Tom Murphy had an MRI on his stiff back on Sunday morning. Murphy arrived to camp feeling great and president of baseball operations Buster Posey said Wednesday that the veteran would almost certainly leave Scottsdale as the backup to Bailey, but a day later, Murphy missed the workout with back spasms. He hasn't practiced since, so the Giants sent him for testing.
Murphy missed just about all of his first season in San Francisco with a knee injury. The only other catcher on the 40-man roster is Sam Huff, acquired from the Texas Rangers in January. The former top 100 prospect has shown off a strong arm early in camp. Max Stassi and Logan Porter also are in camp as non-roster invitees, with Stassi -- known for his soft hands and defensive ability -- possibly being the favorite to win the job at the end of camp if Murphy has any additional health issues.
Forever Giants
Earlier this month, the Giants announced that a dozen former players and coaches would be visiting camp, and they expect that number to grow, with Barry Bonds, Dusty Baker and others possibly making trips to Scottsdale Stadium. Among the initial 12, Yusmeiro Petit was the first to arrive, and he'll spend the first two weeks in camp. Already, he has made it clear that he's intent on helping Camilo Doval get over last year's struggles.
After the previous regime pushed some previous players and coaches to the side, Melvin tried to have a more open camp last spring. He said that some of this year's additions were his idea and some were Posey's idea. Both men seemed thrilled that Petit took them up on the offer.
"Petit, I wanted here. We talked a little bit last year about potentially getting him started and then when he came for the (2014) reunion, I said, 'Wait for a phone call here,'" Melvin said. "We got him here right away in camp -- you can see he's been around Doval, Doval is smiling around him. He's just got such a great way about him. If this is something he wants to do, he's going to have a good career, whether it's as a bullpen coach or whatever he wants to do. He sees the game a little bit differently than most pitchers do."
Petit spent four seasons throwing to Posey and then pitched for Melvin in Oakland for four more. He had a 3.07 ERA in Oakland and a 3.66 ERA in San Francisco, and did it all while leaning on a repertoire that might get you taken off draft boards in today's game. But he knew how to pitch and how to set up hitters, and he was remarkably competitive.
Petit said his children are too young to pull up his highlights on YouTube, but Giants pitchers aren't. You can bet a few of them are going to be encouraged to look up the new instructor's performance in Game 2 of the 2014 NLDS -- six relief frames in extra innings -- to see an example of the kind of guts and unselfishness that this new staff is looking for.