Longoria looks to be more than a mentor

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Whenever a veteran participant joins a comparatively younger staff, the subject of management is bound to come back up. Evan Longoria is aware of this and is greater than prepared to lend his expertise within the D-backs’ clubhouse. But he’s not accomplished making an influence on the diamond.

“My goal, first and foremost, is to be the best player that I can be as a baseball player, to try to help this team win,” mentioned Longoria, who went 0-for-2 within the D-backs’ 8-5 Cactus League victory over the Giants on Wednesday. “And hopefully, as a secondary role, [I’m] able to help the young guys that we have be the best players they can be to help us win.”

D-backs supervisor Torey Lovullo raves about Longoria’s capability to assist youthful gamers, calling him an “unbelievable mentor.” But Lovullo agrees with the 37-year-old Longoria, who signed a one-year free-agent deal with the D-backs in January.

“Whether it’s a dinner off-site or in the batting cage, he’s going to help players get better every single day,” Lovullo said. “But he’s still a good baseball player and I keep telling him this: ‘You’re going to hear me repeat this because I get asked about it a lot — and I don’t want to discount it because you’re good in this area. You’re also a really good baseball player.’”

Longoria, who spent the final 5 seasons with the Giants, has had a simple adjustment to the D-backs as a result of he already had a house a brief drive from Salt River Fields. He likes what he’s seen from his new staff.

“I think it’s a really promising group of young players. The staff has been great,” Longoria mentioned. “I’m excited to continue getting spring going and getting the year going with these guys.”

Jameson exhibits fireplace in scoreless outing

Drey Jameson turned in one other scoreless outing on Wednesday with two strikeouts in two excellent innings in his second Cactus League begin. The 25-year-old right-hander is competing for the fifth spot within the rotation, and up to now he’s happy with the outcomes.

Jameson, who walked one in two innings on Saturday, mentioned eliminating free passes was some extent of emphasis on Wednesday. He was examined on that entrance within the second inning in opposition to Giants catcher Roberto Pérez.

Jameson fell behind 3-0 and Pérez took an enormous rip at Jameson’s subsequent pitch. The foul ball lit a fireplace below Jameson, and he battled again for a strikeout to finish his outing.

“Don’t swing on me 3-0,” mentioned Jameson, the D-backs’ No. 9 prospect. “That puts fire in my blood and something clicks when that happens. So it’s more like, ‘I’m not going to walk this guy.’”

Lovullo mentioned he’d prefer to choose a constant lineup this season however famous that the trendy participant doesn’t thoughts transferring round.

“The new wave of player doesn’t care where they hit; they just want to hit,” Lovullo mentioned. “The newer, younger player just accepts hitting fifth one day and sixth the next day.”

Regardless of the place a participant hits, Lovullo desires them to take their identical strategy.

“We go over that in our meetings,” Lovullo mentioned. “I tell them, ‘If you’re hitting first today, it doesn’t mean you need to be up there with the mentality of trying to get on base by thinking small or changing your zone. And if you’re hitting fifth the next day, it doesn’t mean you have to drive the ball and try to hit home runs. I want you to be the same hitter no matter what.’”

Lovullo would fairly see the gamers make changes primarily based on the sport state of affairs, and that’s some extent of emphasis this spring.

“We believe in situational hitting. If it’s the seventh inning and we’re up by a run or if we need an extra point, of course I’m going to have somebody try to advance that runner,” Lovullo mentioned. “But if we’re a couple runs down or five runs up, I’m not going to expect somebody to just cash in a single run. We need to play for a big inning.”

• Lovullo mentioned he’ll look to get Kyle Lewis right into a sport this weekend. The outfielder, acquired by the D-backs in a commerce with the Mariners in November, has been slowed this spring with normal soreness.

• Wednesday was the final day at camp for some time for middle fielder Dominic Fletcher, catcher Dominic Miroglio and right-hander Mitchell Stumpo, because the trio was set to fly to Taiwan to hitch Team Italy for the World Baseball Classic.