Giants cheering on teammates participating in World Baseball Classic

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Even on a day the Giants had two games on the split-squad slate, the World Baseball Classic was all the talk at camp Saturday.

Mostly it was about Logan Webb, the undisputed staff ace. The lefty led the National League in innings pitched in 2024 and ’25, piled up a career-high 224 strikeouts last year, and earned a spot on Team USA in this year’s WBC.

His dominant debut Friday night included one run allowed on one hit with no walks and six strikeouts in four innings of Team USA’s 15-5 win over Brazil. Word was still getting around the clubhouse Saturday morning in Scottsdale.

“I know that he did good because the boys were talking about it in the group chat,” said shortstop Willy Adames with a smile.

Webb wasn’t the only Giant getting WBC love in the clubhouse on a day the team topped the Rangers, 7-5, at Scottsdale Stadium.

First-year skipper Tony Vitello said he was focused on the Friday night game in San Juan, where Puerto Rico needed one big inning to down Colombia and win its first game of the tournament, helped by a sacrifice fly from Heliot Ramos.

While Ramos was helping his home country, his swings in the WBC were giving younger prospects time to shine for the Giants.

“He didn’t eat up any of our innings yesterday,” Vitello said of Ramos, before he quickly also gave a shout-out to Jung Hoo Lee, who had just tallied two hits and scored two runs in Korea’s 8-6 loss to Japan in a night game in Tokyo that wrapped just before the Giants took morning batting practice. “Guys are starving for at-bats and innings so we’re getting a lot of guys work more than normal because of the WBC.”

Against the Rangers, if there’s such a thing as an important outing in Spring Training in the first week of March, it was just that for lefty starter Carson Whisenhunt.

The Giants’ 2022 second-round Draft pick and the organization’s No. 12 prospect struggled in his first two appearances this spring in which he had issued nine runs on six hits and five walks in 2 2/3 innings.

His first start of the spring was a totally different story. Having made adjustments to his windup, Whisenhunt used a mix of sliders, curveballs and changeups to toss three scoreless innings, allowing a hit, no walks and fanning five on 35 pitches.

“That was the best I’ve seen him,” said Jayce Tingler, who was acting manager at the home game while Vitello was up the road for the Giants’ 7-4 split-squad win over the D-backs. “I thought he had command of all his pitches. He was on the attack and that’s exactly what you want to see.”

Corey Seager’s two-out single in the first inning was the only batter Whisenhunt allowed to reach base.

“Some mechanical cues, trying to sit over the rubber a little bit longer and not get down the mound too quick,” Whisenhunt said of the adjustments, crediting teammate Adrian Houser among those helping tighten up his approach. “I needed a cue. I’ve been searching for one and that one worked.”

Two weeks before breaking camp, Vitello indicated another Spring Training inevitability: With the Giants carrying 62 players entering both split-squad games, roster cuts could be coming sooner rather than later. Now 15 games into Cactus League play, Saturday also brought the first full workout day for Minor League camp in Scottsdale.

“I think some guys will get moved [down] relatively soon because that started up,” the manager said.

One player absent from camp Saturday -- but for a good reason -- was second baseman Christian Koss. The 28-year-old, who enters his second season in San Francisco in 2026, and his wife welcomed their new baby overnight, and Koss is back home and expected to miss a couple days.

Speaking of fathers, there was a nice moment before first pitch at Scottsdale Stadium.

Bringing out the pregame lineup cards for both clubs were Texas quality control coach Rod Barajas, a 14-year MLB catcher, and his son, Rod Barajas Jr., a catcher himself and an 11th-round Draft pick of the Giants in 2025.

Father and son met at home plate with the umpire crew, shared smiles and posed for plenty of pictures to capture the moment.