Notes: Suárez's new pitch; short day for Smyly

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Giants left-hander Andrew Suárez has thrown a two-seam fastball his entire life, but at the behest of the club’s new pitching coaches, he’s opted to abandon the pitch this spring.

Suárez is now leaning on a four-seam fastball and mixing in more of his offspeed pitches, adjustments he hopes will help make him more effective against right-handed batters, who hit .333 with a 1.118 OPS and seven home runs over 88 plate appearances against him last season.

“My whole life I’ve always thrown a two-seam, so when they told me to stop throwing it, it was a little weird at first,” Suárez said. “But yeah, I’m starting to [gain] confidence in it. After that first outing, I started working on it in bullpens and stuff. I’ve got a good feel for it now.”

Suárez’s tweaked arsenal was put to the test in the Giants’ 7-1 loss to the Indians on Thursday at Scottsdale Stadium, as he faced a predominantly right-handed lineup after entering the game in relief in the second inning. The 27-year-old worked two scoreless innings before surrendering a two-run home run to Oscar Mercado on a misplaced slider in the fourth.

It marked the first Cactus League runs allowed by Suárez, who has recorded a 2.70 ERA over 6 2/3 innings and struck out nine over his first three appearances of the spring.

Suárez debuted with the Giants in 2018 and became a key part of the rotation, but he made only two starts last year while shuttling between Triple-A Sacramento and the Majors. With Tyler Beede sidelined indefinitely with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament and flexor tendon in his right elbow, Suárez could make a push for the fifth spot in the Giants’ rotation if he shows he can consistently get both lefties and righties out this spring.

“In a perfect world, we could use him in short bursts and use him in pockets of a lineup where there are several lefties,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “But I don't think we have to. I think it's nice to have a guy who can bounce back and forth potentially between the rotation and the bullpen. He's demonstrating now that he can get right-handed hitters out. If he does that successfully and consistently over a longer period of time, then you can see him being valuable in both roles.”

Smyly’s day
Left-hander Drew Smyly faced four batters and needed 32 pitches to record only one out in his third Cactus League start on Thursday. Smyly issued walks to César Hernández and José Ramírez, and allowed a single to Sandy León to load the bases with no outs in the first inning, though he came back to strike out Carlos Santana on a curveball.

Wanting to be mindful of Smyly’s workload, Kapler opted to lift the 30-year-old veteran in favor of Minor League right-hander Brandon Lawson, who induced a 5-4-3 double play from Franmil Reyes on his first pitch to end the inning.

“The next guy throws one pitch and gets two outs,” Smyly said. “Crazy game.”

Smyly, who is expected to pitch out of the rotation after signing a one-year, $4 million deal over the offseason, threw 17 more pitches in the bullpen to continue to build up his arm and said his stuff felt good overall.

“I felt really good,” Smyly said. “I thought the ball was coming out of my hand great. My stuff seemed really sharp. It’s frustrating. It’s just one of those days where I just couldn’t seem to put them away.”

Worth noting
? Brandon Belt played nine innings at first base and crushed a solo home run off right-hander Zach Plesac in the fourth inning for his second home run of the spring. The rest of the offense didn’t fare as well, as the Giants mustered only three hits against five Indians pitchers.

? Relievers Sam Selman, Andrew Triggs and Jarlín García worked a scoreless inning apiece to bolster their bids in the wide-open bullpen competition. García, a 27-year-old left-hander, will be a notable candidate to watch this spring, as he is out of options and can’t be sent to the Minors without being exposed to waivers.

“Jarlín has done a really good job of staying off barrels, both left-handers and right-handers,” Kapler said. “Strike-throwers are really important in young bullpens and on teams that don’t have a lot of superstar firepower. Strike-throwers keep you in games. They’re going to get hit around once in a while, but they’re not going to walk the bases loaded and put your bullpen at risk.”

Up next
Kevin Gausman will make his third Cactus League start as the Giants head to American Family Fields of Phoenix to face the Brewers on Friday at 12:05 p.m. PT. He will be opposed by Milwaukee's Josh Lindblom. Dereck Rodríguez, Sam Coonrod, Enderson Franco, Wandy Peralta and Carlos Navas are also scheduled to pitch for San Francisco.