Thursday BP: Michael Conforto to make his OF debut

Happy Thursday, San Francisco Giants fans.

There’s something exciting happening today when the Giants face the Milwaukee Brewers in their 13th preseason game of the year: Michael Conforto will put on a glove. Conforto, who was arguably the Giants biggest free agent signing of the offseason after a failed attempt at Aaron Judge and a failed physical for Carlos Correa, missed the entire 2022 season after having surgery on his right shoulder.

Shortly after the Giants signed Conforto, it was revealed that he was still working his shoulder back to full strength, and couldn’t yet play defense. He throws with his right arm, and was reportedly not yet to a point of throwing the ball long distances.

He opened camp strictly as a designated hitter — a position he has openly spoken about not wanting to play. He said his shoulder was fully healed and he was playing long toss, and the Giants were just slow-playing it for maximum safety.

It seems he wasn’t lying, as he’ll start Thursday’s game with a glove on his left hand. Conforto is still being slow-played, as he won’t be diving yet or making throws all the way home. He told reporters this week that the arm strength is there, and that he just needs to build up the stamina, noting that, “When I go out and throw to bases, I get pretty tired by the end of it. I never used to get tired.”

I’d say it will be awesome to see Conforto play in the outfield, but we can’t watch the game, or many of the Giants preseason games for that matter.

Hope you enjoyed their win over Team USA in an exhibition game last night, though!