SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – On a day when the Giants made another round of minor cuts, two high-profile reinforcements returned to camp. Center fielder Angel Pagan and reliever Santiago Casilla rejoined the Giants after facing off in the World Baseball Classic championship game, which was won by Casilla's Dominican Republic squad.
Casilla proudly showed off the two medals (one for participation, one for winning) in his locker and was all smiles as he talked about representing his country and taking part in a third title celebration in the past 30 months.
"Nobody was sleeping!" he said.
Most important for the Giants, Casilla said his arm feels great. Casilla allowed just one hit in five scoreless WBC appearances, a triple by Pagan.
"I told him, 'Hey, only fastballs for you,' " Casilla said. "Just don't steal home."
Manager Bruce Bochy said Pagan, who on Thursday briefly met with coaches but didn't work out, would start today.
Casilla's return to the mound hasn't been scheduled, but he and the rest of the bullpen will meet with Bochy in the coming days to discuss this season's plan for the late innings.
The Giants had a similar meeting last August when Bochy decided to use a committee to close games. This time, Sergio Romo is the closer, but Bochy said Thursday that he would continue to lean on Casilla and left-handers Jeremy Affeldt and Javier Lopez in the eighth and ninth innings.
Notes – The Giants sent infielder Kensuke Tanaka and catchers Jackson Williams and Johnny Monell to the minor-league camp. While Monell was the most impressive of the bunch, going 10 for 20, Tanaka had the best shot of making the roster.
Tanaka, a 31-year-old second baseman trying to adjust from playing in Japan, came to camp with a shot at winning a backup infielder job. But he hit just .229 and made seven errors in 19 games.
• Marco Scutaro was a late scratch from Thursday night's 10-4 loss to the Rockies because of back tightness but said he probably would have played if it had been a regular-season contest.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
• Read more articles by Alex Pavlovic
Order Reprint
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.