SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- For young players in camp, every inning in a Cactus League game is an opportunity to add to the resume and pad a stat line that hopefully will put you on the roster when decisions are made.
Perhaps you'll be the position player who hit .392 or slugged six homers and can't be sent to the minors. Or the pitcher who compiled a 1.50 ERA.
That's what has made Drew Ferguson stand out to the staff this spring. With the pressure on, he has been his usual, patient self, working counts and trying to have good plate appearances in situations where others might be swinging for the fences. That's exactly what Farhan Zaidi, the man who ultimately will decide Ferguson's fate, wants to see.
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"It's tough in this kind of setting with this kind of sample size to expect a certain stat line," Zaidi said. "I don't think he has a lot to show for a lot of those quality at-bats. But we're not going to evaluate him based on the batting average. We're looking for overall at-bat quality."
That's a good sign for Ferguson, who was in a tough spot to begin with. As a Rule 5 pick, he must make the Opening Day roster or else he'll almost certainly end up back with the Houston Astros. The Giants don't want Ferguson to feel that pressure. They want him to be himself, and he certainly has shown that.
While getting the opportunity to lead off on Saturday, Ferguson took a close 2-2 pitch from Cole Hamels and then drew a walk ahead of Buster Posey. The high was followed by a low -- Ferguson got picked off.
Overall, the 26-year-old is hitting just .143 this spring, but he has a more respectable .333 on-base percentage thanks to five walks in 27 plate appearances.
San Francisco Giants
There will be growing pains, but Zaidi said he feels Ferguson has run the bases well and played good defense in center field. The coaching staff views him as one of the fastest players in camp. And, "he has had really good at-bats," Zaidi said.
That's something that has always been the key for Ferguson, who doesn't have prototypical size or a big school background. He's listed at 5-foot-11, 180 pounds, and was a 19th-round pick out of Belmont University, but throughout his minor league career with the Astros, Ferguson showed an innate ability to get to first base.
Ferguson has a .393 on-base percentage in the minors and posted a .432 OBP in 316 plate appearances across two levels last season. In 65 Triple-A games, the center fielder had a .305 average and .436 OBP.
"I kind of realized when I was younger that it was important," he said. "I followed advanced stats in high school and already knew about sabermetrics and analytics, whatever you want to call it. I kind of just saw that it's really important to get on base. I think I just prioritized that over the years and developed the skill, and the Astros, they valued that skill as well, and helped me develop it further."
The Giants could use more of it. Much more.
They finished 28th in the majors last year with a .300 on-base percentage, their lowest team mark in 33 years and the eighth-lowest in franchise history. All 10 postseason teams finished in the upper half of the majors in on-base percentage, and in an era when launch angle is all the rage and players are changing their swings to get loft, Ferguson remains focused on the stat that was at the heart of the previous revolution.
"Here's the thing," he said, "People talk about the game changing or how it's going in a different direction. But it's always been valuable to not get out."
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Zaidi made that an emphasis as soon as he came on, adding hitters at all levels who do a better job of simply reaching base. He is looking for right-handed help in the outfield and views Ferguson as a potential boost, regardless of what the batting average has been this spring.
"Drew factors in there," Zaidi said of the outfield race. "The Rule 5 guys, it's find a spot for him or lose him, so that definitely factors in."