Giants release list of 2015 non-roster invitations to spring training

The Giants sent out a press release to announce the 22 players they've invited to 2015 spring training, and there are friends both old and new:

Pitchers (12)

Ty Blach
Clayton Blackburn
Brett Bochy
Kyle Crick
Cory Gearrin
Juan Gutierrez
Braulio Lara
Adalberto Mejia
Steven Okert
Curtis Partch
Chris Stratton
Nikolas Turley

Catchers (3)

Aramis Garcia
Guillermo Quiroz
Ty Ross

Infielders (5)

Christian Arroyo
Mitchell Delfino
Brandon Hicks
Kelby Tomlinson
Carlos Triunfel

Outfielders (2)

Justin Maxwell
Mac Williamson

Considering that George Kontos is out of options and the Giants' preferred reliever in a glass case, there probably won't be much of a bullpen battle in March. Still, there are some hard-throwing, curious arms mixed in that bunch. I wrote about Gearrin and Turley here and Lara here, which are posts that will confuse me when I accidentally stumble across them in four years.

I never wrote about Partch, though, who already comes complete with a crappy meme-photo. The 27-year-old right-hander boosted his strikeout rate tremendously when he switched to the bullpen in 2012, but he's never shown enough command or control to stick.

While none of these players are likely to make the Opening Day roster, Maxwell is a good fit for the roster if Juan Perez doesn't tickle your fifth-outfielder wattle. And it'll be good to see Williamson back on the field after Tommy John surgery last year, even if the universe tends to masticate and destroy Giants outfield prospects.

There probably isn't a Gregor Blanco or Ryan Vogelsong in here, but there will be someone we'll have to get familiar with in a hurry. NRIs always produce someone who makes an extended cameo you weren't expecting. I'll go with Okert to surprise us with 50 innings of hard-throwing hooray, somehow.