SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants' new affiliate in Sacramento is getting a nice surprise in the second month of the minor league season.
Manager Bruce Bochy said that Hunter Pence was getting checked by trainers one final time Thursday afternoon, and that if he passed all the tests he would start a rehab assignment with the Sacramento River Cats on Friday.
There was some thought that Pence could start his rehab assignment at the organization's minor league facility in Scottsdale, but the River Cats return home Friday for four games against Albuquerque. Pence took early BP on Thursday and then hit with the team later in the day, launching several homers deep into the left field seats. After some initial frustration when he was cleared to swing a bat, Pence has come a long way in the last four to five days.
"Just watching him swing, there's no hesitation there," Bochy said. "He feels he's ready to go."
Pence, nicknamed Full Throttle by Bochy, surely feels close to returning to big league games, but the Giants will hold him back a bit. Bochy said players always feel they are closer than they are, and Pence's rehab assignment could be longer than the usual stint. Because Pence got hurt the first week of spring training games, he has just four at-bats against live pitching since the end of the 2014 World Series.
"It's going to be a little longer," Bochy said. "This guy has missed spring training, he's going to need at-bats."
It has been just over two months since Pence fractured his forearm when he was hit by a pitch that cut in on his hands. The Giants have stayed afloat without their biggest bat, going 14-14.
