Notes: Longo back at 3B; Kazmir frustrated

The Giants have tried to keep Evan Longoria off his feet to help him manage his plantar fasciitis this spring, but the 35-year-old veteran finally began to ramp up defensively in Saturday night’s 5-0 loss to the Mariners at Peoria Sports Complex.

After making his first 10 Cactus League appearances at designated hitter, Longoria drew his first start at third base, logging three innings and fielding a pair of grounders cleanly for outs at first base.

“I knew it was going to be kind of a shorter day today, obviously, being that it was the first day out there, just testing the foot,” Longoria said. “It was just kind of, get in there, see how it feels and get out. Everything was good.”

Manager Gabe Kapler said he was pleased with Longoria’s work and added that he has no concerns about his ability to play a full nine-inning game once the regular season begins.

“I'm really comfortable with the way we built him up away from the game action,” Kapler said. “He's gotten plenty of at-bats, plenty of rhythm in the box. He looks good on his feet at third base. It’s been a while since he's been out there, but the throws were perfectly accurate. Just like Longo, always smooth and easy. Good internal clock. I'm fine with the build-up that we have in place. We may get a few more innings in one of the next two games, but I don't expect him to play nine before we break. I don't think he needs it.”

Longoria has dealt with plantar fasciitis in the past and knows it’ll be a condition he’ll likely have to manage throughout the season. The Giants had a hard time resting Longoria last year due to their lack of reliable backup options at third, but they have better coverage there after signing infielder Tommy La Stella over the offseason.

Kapler said Longoria will start at third on Opening Day on Thursday, but the Giants could choose to ease him back into regular-season action by deploying him at DH during their opening series against the Mariners, which will be played at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

“We haven't really talked about it, but we'll have three chances to DH some guys,” Longoria said. “If it makes sense for our lineup, I'd gladly DH in one of those. But again, I'm planning on trying to be prepared to play nine innings in the field.”

Longoria is hitting .360 (9-for-23) with four home runs and 10 RBIs this spring, though he’s 0-for-6 over his last three games after striking out twice against Mariners left-hander James Paxton on Saturday. Still, Longoria believes those at-bats against Paxton, who struck out nine over four scoreless innings, could prove beneficial when the Giants face him again during the regular season next week.

“Hopefully I get him a little comfortable going into the year with two punchouts there,” Longoria said, laughing. “He executed some good pitches. We're definitely going to have our hands full. I've faced him a handful of times, and he's definitely got good stuff. But it's for sure beneficial to be able to see him right now when the results don't count.”

Worth noting
• Left-hander Scott Kazmir gave up five runs on six hits over 3 2/3 innings in his second Cactus League start and fourth appearance on Saturday, causing his ERA to jump to 9.35 this spring.

Kazmir was hurt by a defensive miscue by infield prospect Will Wilson, who replaced Longoria at third in the fourth and didn’t take charge on a popup off the bat of Taylor Trammell, allowing it to fall between him and catcher Curt Casali in foul territory. Two pitches later, Trammell hammered a two-run shot out to right field to extend the Mariners’ lead to 5-0.

“Overall, it was very frustrating,” Kazmir said. “Very frustrating outing. The stuff felt great, I just wasn’t able to execute, especially in certain situations. It felt like the team was playing right into my hand with how aggressive they were swinging at everything, but I just left some pitches up over the zone, and they made me pay.”

Kazmir, 37, is attempting to return to the Majors for the first time since 2016, but he’s likely to open the regular season at the alternate training site, as the Giants don’t have an opening in their starting rotation right now.

• Brandon Belt (right heel surgery, mononucleosis) also continued to build up on Saturday, playing five innings at first base and drawing two walks in three plate appearances. He remains questionable for Opening Day, but the Giants have expressed optimism that he’ll be ready to go by Thursday.

• Kapler wasn’t quite ready to announce the Giants’ rotation plans for the first week of the regular season, though he did reveal that Logan Webb will start Game 3 in Seattle. Kevin Gausman will start on Opening Day and will be followed by Johnny Cueto.

Up next
The Giants will play the first of two Bay Bridge Series games against the A’s on Sunday afternoon at Scottsdale Stadium at 1:05 p.m. PT. Cueto will make his final tuneup of the spring and start opposite Oakland right-hander Daulton Jeffries. Watch the game for free on MLB.TV.