Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
Conner Menez was prepared for the possibility his rise could coincide with his boyhood hero’s ouster.
That he is now wearing the same orange and black uniform that Madison Bumgarner still dons is surely gratifying.
He cautioned that he wanted this promotion however it could come, but he acknowledged recently that his call-up could come as a result of Bumgarner being traded. Not so, as the Giants summoned him Saturday to debut in the rotation Sunday against the Mets. The trade deadline is not yet here, and the Giants’ players very much still are, having won seven in a row entering Saturday’s game at Oracle Park.
“It would be really cool [to play with Bumgarner]. We have similar interests in what we do outside of baseball. We’re country kids,” said the lefty, who sports a beard that Abraham Lincoln would appreciate.
He once collected Bumgarner’s baseball cards. Now he can see the real thing, replacing Drew Pomeranz for at least one start and possibly more. It’s the culmination of a lifetime of work, a Hollister native and Master’s College grad who was not prepared to call his favorite team his own.
Menez was a 14th-round pick in 2016 who knew he had “a lot of teams” looking at him. Then he heard his name called. Then he saw the logo.
He didn’t see it coming.
“I was with my parents, they were all going crazy,” Menez said over the phone from Triple-A Sacramento last week. “‘That’s your team! That’s your team!’”
He has climbed the organizational ladder fairly steadily. He took off last year, when he got a cup of coffee with Sacramento but piled up strikeouts primarily with Double-A Richmond. For the season, he struck out 171 in 135 1/3 innings, putting himself on the team’s radar and getting a non-roster invite to spring training this year.
This season he’s been even better, his control getting harnessed. Across the two levels — he was promoted to Sacramento in early June — he has a 3.13 ERA in 96 innings with 123 strikeouts, the eighth most for any minor leaguer. Walks have been his issue and still are, but the 36 he’s issued represent an improvement.
“Last year I was trying to be too fine,” said Menez, whom MLB Pipeline ranks as the Giants’ No. 21 prospect. “This time I’m trying to get the hitters out as early as I can. I’ve had my catcher kind of set up on a third of the plate until two strikes. Get ahead and limit those walks.”
By not aiming for the corners and trusting his stuff, he’s made himself a part of the Giants’ plans, for the present and future. He has a slider, curveball and changeup that he mixes in, but it’s all based on a “sneaky” fastball, his Triple-A manager, Dave Brundage, said.
It’s in the low 90s, but it “plays higher than what it reads on the gun,” Brundage said. “Little unorthodox in his mechanics. At the same time, he’s got three, four average-to-plus pitches. Now it’s about refining him. He’s now able to coach himself.
“He’s had a couple hiccups along the way, and he’s a young man trying to find himself,” Brundage added, alluding to a two-start funk from late June to early July in which he allowed eight runs in 7 1/3 innings. “Then he shows you why we think so highly of him.”
The delivery — he’s lanky, at 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, and comes across his body at about a three-quarters angle — helps deceptiveness and is a bit reminiscent of Bumgarner, which Menez said is incidental.
But for one trip at least through the rotation, both country lefties will share a mound.
