SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- In August of 2017, Sam Wolff had surgery to anchor his flexor tendon back to the bone. He would miss 10 months, so it came as a bit of a surprise when he was sent to the Giants that December in a deal that landed Matt Moore in Arlington.
"It was weird, because you think they'll put you on the shelf for a little bit," Wolff said. "But I was excited to get a fresh start."
The Giants were excited to add another good arm to their future bullpen mix, and all of a sudden they're pretty deep there, which they certainly won't take for granted given what transpired three years ago. Farhan Zaidi held on to the best arms already in the 'pen and has continued to add throughout the offseason -- from Kieran Lovegrove, an early target, to Nick Vincent, and a half-dozen others.
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Even in Zaidi's first few weeks, the Giants put an emphasis on stockpiling relief options; Melvin Adon and Sam Coonrod were two of the three players added to the 40-man roster before the Rule 5 Draft.
Adon and Coonrod both have primarily been starters in the minors but are headed for the bullpen in 2019, for different reasons. Coonrod came back from Tommy John surgery last year and the plan called for his first full season, 2019, to be spent relieving. Adon has a triple-digit fastball and good slider, and the Giants feel he can move quickly as a reliever after spending last season at High-A San Jose.
"I can't tell you where he's going to start the year, but he's on a fast pace. He's really coming on," manager Bruce Bochy said. "The command has been good. You look at what he did in the Fall League and that certainly caught everybody's eye."
Adon pitched 12 1/3 innings in the Fall League and struck out 21 batters while walking just three. Wolff didn't allow an earned run in his 10 innings, striking out 14. That was a big stretch for him after he struggled to get going in Double-A once he returned from his injury.
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"During the season you're kind of feeling it out, getting back in the groove of bus rides and minor league ball and all that," he said. "But in the fall everything felt back to normal on the mound. It was really nice to finish on a high note."
Wolff was back pitching in the mid-90s, a theme for this young group. Coonrod said he's back up to 98 mph pitching out of the 'pen, and Adon has been clocked as high as 102 mph as a reliever. Coonrod was in big league camp in 2016-17 and was a bit of an outlier back then in terms of velocity. A couple of years later, it seems like every young arm the Giants are throwing out there can run it up into the upper 90s.
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"I've noticed that," Coonrod said, smiling. "It seems like ever since the Royals played the Giants in that 2014 World Series, everyone saw what they did with their relievers and it's been going in that direction."
The Giants have been, too, adding guys like Reyes Moronta and Ray Black to the big league mix. But they're also stockpiling depth in the minors, with the hope that a few of these big arms develop into big-time contributors.