Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
SURPRISE, Ariz. — A key to Nick Tropeano winning a job with the Giants is a pitch-usage discovery he made while on a team for which he never appeared in a game.
Tropeano was with the Yankees last year when he “dove in the numbers” concerning his pitch breakdown. His splitter, which he threw as infrequently as 1.5 percent of the time in 2015, should be further emphasized, as he had in the past few seasons. All of his offspeed stuff, really, should be boosted.
The pay-off didn’t come with the Yankees, who designated him for assignment before he entered a game for them. The Pirates picked up the former starter midseason and converted him to a bulk reliever, having him pitch anywhere from one to four innings — and well, with a 1.15 ERA in 15 2/3 innings.
As should sound customary for the Giants, who are asking so many of their pitchers to do the same, Tropeano excelled by laying off his fastball. He threw it less than ever while opting for his curveball 31 percent and splitter 26.4 percent, courtesy Fangraphs.
That same splitter danced in front of Rougned Odor on Monday before disappearing. The Rangers infielder swung over the top for the strikeout to finish a solid first inning of Tropeano’s spring season.
“He’s going to be a split-heavy guy for us. We feel it’s a great weapon and we encourage him to use it as much as he’s comfortable,” Gabe Kapler said after the 1-1, six-inning, very-much-spring-training tie with the Rangers at Surprise Stadium. “Clearly it’s going to be craft and finesse over power with Trop. It’s one of the reasons we trust him and see him as a potential starter or multi-inning reliever. And we could also see him at some point being just a one-inning guy.”
There are plenty of options for the non-roster invite, who’s appeared in 49 big-league games since debuting with Houston in 2014. He has a solid chance to make the team out of camp with a fastball that touched 90 mph and offspeed stuff that went as low as 78 mph. The Giants’ starting five seems set but exceedingly injury-prone, and in a season when so many innings will have to be navigated through, the 30-year-old’s versatility should help.
Kapler can credit himself with helping land Tropeano, who pointed at a call from the manager that helped sell him this offseason.
“Just his positive energy and the way that he’s straightforward and the type of guy that he is,” Tropeano said over Zoom after a scoreless inning that included a double to Nate Lowe. “I think that’s what kind of put me over the hill to come play for the Giants.”
And he’s willing to pitch in whatever way that can help the team. With a projected rotation that includes Aaron Sanchez (zero 2020 regular-season innings), Alex Wood (12 2/3) and Anthony DeSclafani (33 2/3), as well as Johnny Cueto (5.40 ERA), there will be opportunities that arise.
The bullpen is far deeper, but primarily with shorter options. Assuming Logan Webb and Caleb Baragar open in the minors, Tropeano’s long-man competition may be a group that includes Scott Kazmir, Shun Yamaguchi, Conner Menez and Anthony Banda.
He was happy with his first look at opposing batters — and happy with his offspeed stuff that the Giants want to see more of.
The Giants “were all about [my pitch usage changes],” Tropeano said. “They were helpful in the way that steered me in the right direction.”