SF Giants News: New camp role for 2-time World Series champ

Two-time World Series champion Hunter Pence settled in nicely as a play-by-play analyst for the SF Giants in 2022 and he will be assuming an additional role this year. Giants manager Gabe Kapler confirmed that Pence will be in camp as a mentor and coach according to Evan Webeck of the Mercury News.

SF Giants News: New camp role for 2-time World Series champ

The longtime outfielder began his career in 2007 and spent eight of his 14 major league seasons with the Giants. He earned four All-Star selections and won two World Series titles for the Giants in 2012 and 2014.

The power-hitting outfielder came over to the Giants in exchange for Tommy Joseph, Seth Rosin, and Nate Schierholtz in a midseason trade with the Philadelphia Phillies. Pence quickly became a Giants legend due in part to his clutch hitting as well as his inspirational dugout speech to his teammates prior to Game 3 of the 2012 NLDS against the Cincinnati Reds.

The Giants were down 0-2 in the series at that point but made an unlikely comeback to defeat the Reds and eventually won the World Series. Pence's postseason heroics continued as he tallied 12 hits in 27 at-bats during the 2014 World Series against the Kansas City Royals.

Earlier in his career, Pence was about as durable of a player as they come. He appeared in over 150 games in seven straight seasons beginning in 2008. This included plaing in all 162 games for the Giants in 2013 and 2014. When the lineup was being written, you could always expect his name to be in there.

Pence's first stint with San Francisco came to an end after the 2018 season. He joined the Texas Rangers on a one-year deal and had a late-career renaissance as he posted a .910 OPS in 316 plate appearances while earning his fourth and final All-Star selection.

He returned to the Giants in 2020 and announced his retirement at the end of that year. Since then, he has remained involved with San Francisco which has included stints on pre and post game shows as well as TV broadcasts.

Teams typically bring back a lot of players with ties to the organizations, so there will be plenty of familiar faces in camp. That said, few can match the career résumé of Pence, and hopefully, this leads to him having an even bigger role with the organization going forward.