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A combination of happenstance and persistent pestering bought Abiatal Avelino two things: at-bats and a position he barely knows.
The Giants are letting the 24-year-old take a “crash course” — Bruce Bochy’s words — in left field for Monday’s series opener with the Diamondbacks at Oracle Park. A minor leaguer since 2012, Avelino has bounced all around the infield but rarely ventured into the outfield. He played a single game in right for the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate in 2018 before seeing five games from the outfield last offseason in the Dominican Winter League.
Bochy said Avelino, who’s an athlete and was mostly a shortstop with Triple-A Sacramento, hadn’t even got reps in practice. But he’s pushed for it and is “excited.” That and Mike Yastrzemski’s bruised hand and the Giants taking it easy with Alex Dickerson following his oblique injury prompted the experiment.
“I’ve been trying to get Avy at-bats,” said Bochy, who added Brandon Crawford’s recent surge had helped plant Avelino on the bench. “… He worked quite a bit last year at the outfield. … He’ll be fine.”
Avelino’s play will decide if this is a full-game look.
“There’s no expectations once he gets out there. I don’t want him to feel bad if he doesn’t quite make the play,” Bochy said of Avelino, who is 1-for-5 this season. “We’re putting him in a place where he doesn’t have a lot of time. We’re comfortable doing it. We’ll see how he looks the first five or six innings. If he does well, he’ll finish the game.”
Yastrzemski was plunked on the left hand a day earlier in Oakland, and while the outfielder said X-rays came back “fine,” Bochy called it a “pretty good contusion.” Bochy said there was a chance he could play Tuesday. Before the game, Yastrzemski said he was about to test his hand by taking some swings.
Meanwhile, Bochy said he could have inserted Dickerson against lefty Alex Young, but the Giants are “trying to pick spots for him.” Dickerson, who said he’s OK, didn’t start Sunday, and the Giants have an off-day Wednesday. They’re giving him a break physically and against a pair of lefties.
This year, Dickerson is slashing .235/.235/.412 against southpaws.
“You look at my career numbers left-on-left, I’ve always hit a pretty decent average, but I generally am not walking on them, I’m not hitting home runs against them,” Dickerson said. “In this era of really cherishing OPS, it doesn’t look quite as good.”
Of course, there is a sizzling righty Triple-A bat who surely has more outfield experience than Avelino. But Bochy said the time wasn’t right for Jaylin Davis, whom they want to get everyday at-bats — and he can’t at the major league level yet.
“I don’t know if he’s a guy you just want in there against left-handers,” Bochy said of Davis, who has 10 homers in 20 games with Sacramento since coming over in the Sam Dyson trade.
