Michael Morse seemed like a long-shot to make the Giants' roster when he was signed to a minor league contract on Christmas Eve, but the 2014 postseason hero is making a strong case to stick around.
The 34-year-old is hitting .304 (7-for-23) with a .364 on-base percentage and a .655 slugging percentage through 11 Cactus League games. He has two home runs, six RBI, five runs, four walks, and five strikeouts.
The veteran's impact isn't lost on Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow.
"Yeah, it is (getting real)," Krukow said on KNBR Thursday morning. "It absolutely is.
"He knew he had to come in here, he knew he had to perform, and he's doing that."
In his lone season with San Francsico, Morse played 83 games in left field and 42 games at first base. Three years seasons later, Krukow doesn't expect the Giants to throw him out in left field if he makes the team.
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"If they throw him out in the outfield, he's not going to have a lot of whole lot of range. He will basically catch what he gets to," Krukow said. "But I don't think you're gonna see him in that role very often. If it's defensive, it's going to be at first base."
Morse's bat proved big in the Giants' 2014 title run. He hit a pinch-hit, game-tying home run in Game 5 of the NLCS against the Cardinals, setting up Travis Ishikawa's walk-off home run that sent the Giants to the World Series. And he delivered the game-winning RBI in Game 7 of the World Series in Kansas City.
"He represents a guy that can play first base, hit right handed, have some power, come off the bench late, and turn the game around with one swing."
The Giants would have to clear space on the 40-man in order to keep Morse. San Francisco currently has eight infielders on the 40-man (Brandon Belt, Orlando Calixte, Brandon Crawford, Conor Gillaspie, Miguel Gomez, Edurado Nunez, Joe Panik and Kelby Tomlinson) and five outfielders (Gorkys Hernandez, Jarrett Parker, Hunter Pence, Denard Span and Mac Williamson).
