SAN FRANCISCO – After the San Francisco Giants beat the Oakland Athletics 3-0 to finish up their 2018 Spring Training schedule, Bruce Bochy met with media and fired off a list of moves the team will make in the coming hours to ready the roster for Opening Day on Thursday.
Most notably, the Steven Duggar will start the season in AAA with the Sacramento River Cats after an extremely promising spring campaign. Bochy had high praise for the Clemson product, but said right now it’s about Duggar getting more reps.
“We really wanted him to continue his development, his progress,” Bochy said. “He didn’t get a lot of at-bats in AAA last year. And this kid really handled himself well. I mean he’s a pro. Worked his tail off. It wasn’t because of something he did. Just with the way it sets up right now we just wanna have him down there playing every day.”
Although Duggar will start his season in Sacramento, Bochy is confident the 24-year-old will see action in San Francisco this season.
“With how he played, how he handled himself, he’s again a gifted athlete – but also a learner. You see him. He’s talking to the guys, he’s listening. He’s got the whole game I think. Defense. I think he’s going to be a good hitter. Bunter. Baserunner. We have, we think, a really special player in Duggar.”
Sam Hustis covers the Giants for KNBR.com. You can follow him on Twitter @SamHustis.