Despite a cracked bat, Austin Slater still muscled a ball to deep center field

How one handles a situation under less-than-ideal circumstances reveals a lot about his character. During the eighth inning of Friday night's 13-5 win against the Pirates, Giants left fielder Austin Slater showed his ability to handle such situations.
Three pitches into his at-bat -- two balls and a swing-and-miss -- cameras revealed that Slater was working with faulty equipment. 

To his credit, he didn't let the imperfect circumstances faze him -- though it's possible he didn't notice -- and managed to hit the next pitch out to the PNC Park warning track.

Though Gregory Polanco retreated to make the catch, the power Slater was able to get on his contact with a clearly cracked bat remains impressive.
"It was broken for sure after the one to center," said Slater to MLB.com's Chris Haft. "I thought I got that one pretty good and it didn't go anywhere. So I was a little confused. I might have broken it on that to right (in the sixth). … Now I'm pretty curious."
The rookie not only showed veteran composure, but also old-man strength.