SCOTTSDALE - Before Sunday's workout, Julian Fernandez had an accident at his locker and suffered a minor cut on the index finger of his pitching hand. That would normally just cause a player to go through a couple of days of Jeremy Affeldt jokes, but for Fernandez, this is no normal camp.
The 22-year-old has never pitched above A-ball, yet the Giants will take a long look at him as an option to make the Opening Day bullpen. Because Fernandez was a Rule 5 draft pick, he has to be on the roster at the end of the spring or the Giants will have to offer him back to the Colorado Rockies.
It seems unlikely that a team with postseason aspirations could carry a project in the bullpen for six months, especially a team that has had so many relief issues the past two years. But the front office is intent on giving Fernandez a real shot, with the belief that his fastball - which regularly touches 100 mph and has topped out at 103 - will allow him to stick. Fernandez had to skip his bullpen session on Sunday and will miss at least a couple of days of throwing, but his first two sessions of the spring went well.
"It's so early, but what's impressive about the kid is that he's around the plate, throwing strikes," Bruce Bochy said. "You think a guy who throws with that velocity - around 100 - is going to be all over the board. But that's not the case with him. He has pretty good feel. He has a changeup. He's working on the breaking ball. He has a good idea of what he's trying to do out there."
Fernandez is trying to sharpen his changeup and slider this spring, but the biggest adjustments might be mental. He understands that he's in a rare position, and he said he originally felt some pressure when the Rockies called him in December and told him that his future options had drastically changed in a hotel ballroom at the winter meetings in Orlando.
That pressure remained when Fernandez checked into camp earlier this week, but fellow Dominican right-hander Johnny Cueto has tried to take Fernandez under his wing, offering coaching on the field and advice off of it. Fernandez is one of several young pitchers who has spent time at Cueto's house this first week.
"The main thing he says is just that it's baseball, it's the same game, and that takes the pressure off," Fernandez said through interpreter Erwin Higueros. "Now it's more just up to me. I've got to do everything that they ask me to do, and at the end of the day, they'll make the decision."
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To prove that he can be an option, Fernandez needs to show more than just a breaking ball and fastball command. The Giants will need some length from him, and that's the biggest question mark for a pitcher who has 128 relief appearances and no starts in five minor league seasons.
Fernandez had a 3.26 ERA in 51 appearances last season, striking out 57 and walking 18 in 58 innings. He pitched two full innings in eight of his appearances, but never went any further. The longest appearance of his career is four innings, but that was three years ago in the Dominican Summer League, so there's not much evidence that he can be a long reliever, and that's the easiest way for the Giants to sneak a Rule 5 pick into their bullpen.
The arm is special, though, and because of that, the Giants are willing to be open-minded, although team officials admit the path is steeper after the Tony Watson addition. Bochy said he'll run Fernandez out there as much as he can over the next month, although any more setbacks like Sunday's would certainly shred the plans the Giants made when they picked Fernandez in December.
Either way, the young pitcher knows this is a rare opportunity, and he's eager to take advantage of it.
"It's going to be an unforgettable experience," Fernandez said. "Being with the team, and being here in the clubhouse with guys like Cueto and Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner, it's going to be a great experience."
