SCOTTSDALE — After the third inning at the Giants’ minor league facility on Friday, bullpen coach Garvin Alston approached right-hander Landen Roupp in the dugout.
“If you have another inning like that, we’re going to put some runners on for you,” he said, laughing.
Against Colorado Rockies minor leaguers, Roupp was so dominant that getting on base wasn’t even a reasonable goal. Simply making contact against Roupp was difficult enough.
The 26-year-old pitched in a High-A game to get his pitch count up while Jordan Hicks faced the Milwaukee Brewers a few miles away, and in five one-hit innings, Roupp struck out 13. He started the afternoon with nine straight strikeouts, but didn’t realize what was going on at first.
“People were going wild. All the minor leaguers have to stay and watch us so some of my friends that I got drafted with were screaming after I struck someone out and I was like, ‘What are they doing?’ I guess it was because I struck out nine in a row,” Roupp said. “I noticed that and realized what was happening but during the moment I didn’t know that I was doing what I was doing. I was just locked in.”
The 13 strikeouts were a lifetime high at any level for Roupp, who twice struck out 12 in a game in college. He said he couldn’t remember ever getting more than six in a row.
The hitters were young and inexperienced, but often that’s a tougher test for big leaguers since hitters in the low minors view those matchups as opportunities to make a name for themselves and often are needlessly aggressive. Roupp didn’t give them a chance to chase base hits; the majority of his strikeouts came on three pitches and he needed just 66 — 51 of which were strikes — to get through his five innings.
A day later, Alston said Roupp’s outing would be impressive against any level of competition. The right-hander certainly chose a great time to be that sharp, as manager Bob Melvin skipped the big league game to get a closer look at Roupp, who is trying to beat out Kyle Harrison and Hayden Birdsong for the final rotation spot. Melvin said he was impressed by how Roupp got his adrenaline and intensity going in front of only about 50 people.
“He didn’t let anybody play,” Melvin said, smiling. “All he needed was a catcher.”
Roupp has been nearly as dominant at times this spring in Cactus League games. He allowed just one hit and struck out 11 in his first three appearances before stumbling last weekend against the Chicago Cubs and allowing five runs. Roupp said he didn’t feel focused against the Cubs for some reason, and vowed to not let that happen again.
Birdsong and Harrison will try to keep pace in Sunday’s game against the Athletics, and the Giants insist the competition is still wide open. Melvin wouldn’t commit when asked Saturday if Roupp has at least locked up a bullpen job, but at this point it’s hard to see how the Giants could head to Cincinnati later this month without Roupp, who hopes to be in the rotation.
“I don’t think the competition is going to be over until the last day of camp,” he said. “I’ve still got to pitch well and continue to do what I’ve been doing.”
Roupp continues to work on a cutter that he hopes can become a weapon against left-handed hitters. He’s already comfortable with a changeup that is modeled after Logan Webb’s, and the curveball and sinker are as deadly as ever. In 17 innings this spring, Roupp has 27 strikeouts.
Nearly half of them came in a memorable hour at the minor league facility, and a day later, he offered perhaps the understatement of the spring.
“Everything was working,” he said, smiling.
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