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.

Su¨¢rez 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,¡± Su¨¢rez 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.¡±

Su¨¢rez¡¯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 Su¨¢rez, who has recorded a 2.70 ERA over 6 2/3 innings and struck out nine over his first three appearances of the spring.

Su¨¢rez 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, Su¨¢rez 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 C¨¦sar Hern¨¢ndez and Jos¨¦ Ram¨ªrez, and allowed a single to Sandy Le¨®n 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 Jarlin García worked a scoreless inning apiece to bolster their bids in the wide-open bullpen competition. Garc¨ªa, 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.

¡°Jarl¨ªn 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 Rodr¨ªguez, Sam Coonrod, Enderson Franco, Wandy Peralta and Carlos Navas are also scheduled to pitch for San Francisco.