SAN FRANCISCO — Batting practice was optional for the Giants’ position players Monday, following a late-night arrival back home from St. Louis.
Still, a smattering of players gathered around the cage inside Oracle Park to watch a couple other athletes take some hacks.
Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, the San Jose Sharks’ top picks in the 2024 and 2023 drafts, respectively, and their two biggest young stars, traded in their skates for spikes and took BP before the Giants began their homestand against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Celebrini’s lineage is well known in these parts, the son of Warriors head trainer Rick Celebrini, but did you know Smith’s family tree runs deep in baseball? He is the great, great grandson of the former White Sox owner Charles Comiskey and also played shortstop growing up before settling on hockey.
It showed, as Smith could almost pass as the Dodgers catcher by the same name, lining a few pitches into the outfield with a smooth right-handed swing. Celebrini stopped playing baseball when he was 7 years old and didn’t look quite as natural from the left side.
Both players sent a couple balls to the warning track, but neither will challenge Brandin Podziemski as the best cross-sport performance. (The Warriors guard put one over the right-field wall when he paid a visit last season.)
The Sharks open their season Oct. 9 and training camp is already underway, giving the players a convenient excuse for their lack of home-run swings.
“We had a good day of practice and a workout, so we were a little gassed coming in,” Smith said. “No excuses, though.”
Giants manager Bob Melvin joked, “I’m guessing these guys are low-ball hitters,” but the slap-shooters’ form on the ice didn’t translate, according to Smith. He spent his offseason taking plenty of swings on the golf course, too, and that was no help, either.
“It’s a lot different,” Smith said. “A lot different.”
The players got a tour of the Giants’ facilities, changed into team-issued workout gear and donned custom-made jerseys, then took some cuts in the indoor batting cage to prepare for their public spectacle. Hitting coach Pat Burrell, outfielder Drew Gilbert and infielder Christian Koss provided some pointers.
“They were just trying to help us hit,” Smith said. “We were listening the best we could.”
“I was just trying to make contact,” Celebrini added. “It’s a deep fence.”
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