SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The Giants were hit by a double dose of injury scares on Friday afternoon.
An hour before first pitch at Scottsdale Stadium, first baseman Rafael Devers was scratched from the starting lineup with left hamstring tightness. The Giants went on to lose another one of their regulars in a 12-4 win over the Dodgers, as center fielder Harrison Bader left the Cactus League game after the first inning due to a right thumb contusion.
Manager Tony Vitello said Devers felt some slight discomfort during pregame infield work, so the Giants decided to keep him out of the lineup for precautionary reasons. Bader had been nursing a bruised thumb for a few days and tried to play through it on Friday, but he was removed after grounding out to end the bottom of the first.
“He’s good,” Vitello said of Bader. “It was something we had kept an eye on for a few days. I don’t want to mislabel what day he had some discomfort in his thumb, a little bit of a contusion there, but he always wants to play. We gave it a go today. Better safe than sorry this time of year.”
Devers and Bader were both scheduled to have a day off on Saturday, but Vitello said they could potentially return to action as soon as Sunday against the Padres.
Bader, who joined San Francisco on a two-year, $20.5 million contract over the offseason, has appeared in all but one of the Giants’ first seven Cactus League games. He is expected to suit up for Team Israel in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.
Ray progressing
Left-hander Robbie Ray admitted he felt off during his Cactus League debut against the Cubs on Sunday -- and no, it wasn’t because he had to pitch through a fire alarm.
Ray said he’s been struggling to find his delivery ever since undergoing Tommy John surgery in May 2023. The 34-year-old veteran returned to the mound in July ‘24, and he earned his second career All-Star nod with the Giants in ‘25, but Ray said he was fighting to regain the feel he had before the surgery.
Ray wasn’t happy with the way his body was moving in his early bullpen sessions this spring, so he worked with new pitching coaches Justin Meccage and Christian Wonders to diagnose the issue and make some tweaks to correct it.
“We’ve been losing sleep over it,” Ray said. “Trying to figure out what it is. I feel like the biggest thing is I’ve been dumping my back hip, which has caused my arm to hike up, which kind of counteracts everything that I do because it actually lowers my release point. My pitch shapes are bad when I do that. My bullpens have been terrible. Obviously, the last game, the triple play saved the day, but I walked two guys and gave up a base hit. I just felt off. But today, I felt like I was able to put the ball where I needed to delivery-wise because I really focused on not dumping my hips and staying kind of square.”
Ray applied the adjustments in his start against the Dodgers on Friday and felt he did a better job of getting out over his front side and driving the ball to the plate. The only damage he allowed over two innings was an RBI triple to James Tibbs III, the Giants’ 2024 first-round Draft pick who was sent to the Red Sox as part of the Devers trade last year.
“I’ve been fighting it for a while,” Ray said. “Today, I feel like I made a pretty big step in the right direction.”
Arraez departs for the WBC
Luis Arraez went 1-for-2 with a walk and played five innings at second base in his final game before heading to Miami to begin gearing up for the World Baseball Classic. The 28-year-old infielder will represent Venezuela, along with right-handed reliever José Buttó.
“I’m ready to go,” Arraez said. “I’m going to miss my teammates, but I have something to do for my city. I’m really excited. I feel good, I feel healthy. I can’t wait to get to Miami and especially see my family, too.”
It’s been less than three weeks since Arraez signed a one-year, $12 million deal with the Giants, but he said it didn’t take long for him to feel at home with his new team.
“I feel this is my family already,” Arraez said. “As soon as I got here, they opened the doors for me.”