Friday BP: Giants reorganize Oracle Park to fit Spring Training

Hello and happy Friday!

MLB teams don’t usually practice on the same fields they play on. There are many reasons for this, with the biggest one being that MLB teams don’t really practice once Spring Training is over. There’s no time for it.

But MLB parks also aren’t great for practicing on, because there’s only one field. So that leaves the San Francisco Giants — and the 29 other MLB teams — with a bit of a conundrum.

Players are supposed to report for the second iteration of Spring Training on July 1, but they’re supposed to report to their home ballparks. Which means the Giants have to try to do Spring Training not at the numerous fields in Scottsdale, but at the single field by the water at Oracle Park.

So what are the Giants do? Scrambling and rearranging. The organization is already finishing up an Oracle Park remodel that features moving the bullpens from on the field to behind center and right-center field. Now they’re having to add more playable ground behind left field, and extending into the player parking lot.

NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic reports:

Essentially, the plan is to use the main field for training and then have a new facility, so to speak, extend from Triples Alley to the player’s parking lot, which sits beyond the left-field wall. In addition to the four new bullpen mounds, the Giants will have two cages set up in tunnels that will be used as extra bullpen mounds. They also will have three hitting tunnels, two of which can also hold full-length pitching mounds. The plan is to be flexible within those nets, allowing for BP sessions but also bullpen sessions.

The coolest addition may come in a space usually reserved for Audis and oversized trucks. The Giants plan to turn the player garage into a turfed area for drills, with the added benefit that the massive doors there can be opened and provide ventilation.

Work with what you’ve got.

Did Barry Bonds hit a home run today?

He did.

June 26, 1994: Against the Colorado Rockies, Bonds hit a pair of 2-run home runs off of Greg Harris. A 1st inning shot scored Robby Thompson and gave the Giants a 2-0 lead. A 5th inning blast also scored Thompson and gave the Giants a 6-0 lead. The Giants would win 8-1. They were his 18th and 19th homers of the year.

Giants links

• Podcast: Roger Munter talks the draft, the Giants, and the future of drafts with MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis (There R Giants)
• Grant Brisbee on the Giants 40-man roster mess (The Athletic, subscription required)
• Podcast: Grant Brisbee and Andrew Baggarly try to figure out the roster (The Athletic, free)
• Mark W. Sanchez on why the Giants think they can turn Carter Williams into a special talent (KNBR)
• Maria Guardado offers up a FAQ for Giants fans on the season restart (MLB)
• Mark W. Sanchez breaks down first, second, and third base (KNBR)
• Maria Guardado on the Giants DH candidates (MLB)
• Bruce Jenkins on the universal DH (SF Chronicle)
• Alex Pavlovic wonders what would have happened if Dusty Baker never gave Russ Ortiz the ball in 2002 (NBC Sports Bay Area)
• Brian Murphy — no, not Bryan Murphy — explains why the Giants shouldn’t sign Yasiel Puig (the Giants should totally sign Yasiel Puig) (KNBR)
• Alex Pavlovic on newest Giant Robert Emery responding to a McCovey Chronicles tweet about a picture of him as a six year old (NBC Sports Bay Area)

Have a great Friday, one and all.