During the first days of camp, Giants coaches Antoan Richardson and Alyssa Nakken helped the outfielders warm up in a new and interesting way by hitting tennis balls to them and having them try to make barehanded catches. It brought a different energy to a usually mundane part of the day, but when it comes to a couple of future big leaguers, extra energy is never needed.
Asked on this week's "Giants Talk" podcast, about Heliot Ramos and Hunter Bishop, two of the organization's top prospects, Nakken said something definitely stood out.
"They are two of the most exciting people I've ever been around and that's not even just talking about their athletic ability," Nakken said. "They're just really two awesome dudes that have bright futures in this game. They bring so much energy every single day."
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Ramos showed that during his breakout spring, which was about more than just the high average and string of homers mid-camp. He had a couple of hustle doubles over the final week of games, showing off the speed that made him a first-round pick in 2017.
Bishop was limited by an ankle tweak that has healed up in recent days, but when on the field, he swings as hard as any Giant and is a daring baserunner. Earlier in camp, veteran Alex Dickerson summed the two up as "freakishly athletic."
"Both of them would be tough to deal with on a football field, that's for sure," he said.
The energy can run players into trouble at times, and Ramos overran a couple of plays in the outfield this spring. But manager Gabe Kapler shook that off, saying he would much rather have to tone a player down one day than teach him how to play hard.
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Eventually, that task could fall to Richardson and Nakken, who coach the big league outfielders. Nakken is looking forward to it.
"Those two in particular, talk about challenging each other," she said. "They're always talking to each other in certain ways to kind of elevate one another's game. It's guys like that that inspire coaches ... (they) inspire coaches like me to show up every day and bring a lot of energy and have a lot of intent and intensity in our workouts."
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Nakken, now in her second year, said both young outfielders were constantly showing up early looking to get extra throws in or practice their reads on the outfield grass. That's a good sign for two players who have the athletic gifts to be stars.
Ramos showed them off this spring and should be up at some point this year. Bishop hasn't played A-ball yet, but he was an advanced college hitter and could be a big league option by some point next season. Both will bring a different gear to the big league roster.
"I think Giants fans should be very excited for what's to come out of those two," Nakken said.