After 4-double game, SF Giants call up Brett Wisely to make first MLB start

MIAMI — It’s been quite the past 48 hours for Brett Wisely, who arrived on the red eye at about 6 a.m. and was on the lineup card in center field Tuesday night, making his first major-league start.

Recalled before Tuesday’s game (Matt Beaty was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move), Wisely doubled four times in his last Triple-A game Sunday in Reno, shuttled back to Sacramento, drove to San Francisco and hopped on the only direct flight he could find to Miami.

Fortunately, it was a bit easier journey for his Jacksonville-based family, who missed out on his major-league debut on Opening Day due to the Giants’ last-minute roster maneuvering and a communication mishap. Wisely, the youngest of seven siblings, had two of his six brothers, as well as his dad, Bob, in attendance.

“I feel like I’m at home again,” Wisely said. “It was good seeing them this morning and seeing some familiar faces. I feel like I’m at home again. … I haven’t seen any palm trees in Sacramento, so seeing some palm trees felt pretty good. To get back into the routine of the heat, the weather and just being Florida really. Honestly I love the humidity.”

After a strong showing in spring training, Wisely made the Giants’ Opening Day roster but was optioned to Triple-A the following day. In 12 games with Sacramento, Wisely batted .304/.467/.500 with nine doubles, including four on Sunday.

“That kind of shocked me, too,” Wisely said. “I hit the first one and I was like, ‘OK, good start to the day.’ I hit the next and I was like, ‘What’s going on here? How am I getting this lucky? I’m not used to being this lucky.’ I hit the fourth one and was like, ‘Wow. I don’t know what I ate this morning but I need to keep doing that.’”

(It was a ham-and-cheese sandwich.)

Expected to be used primarily in center field, with Mike Yastrzemski their only other option there currently, Wisely can also help in the middle infield. As a switch-hitter who can play up the middle of the diamond, he gives the Giants more versatility and athleticism than Beaty, who had one hit in four at-bats, three as a pinch-hitter.

He said there couldn’t have been a better time to get called back up.

“After spring training I kind of felt like my swing was here and there,” Wisely said. “So I was just working really hard to get back to being relaxed in the box and getting back to the basics. I started to swing well there at the end and just build my confidence a lot. I feel like it’s a good time because my confidence is pretty high.”

Why Giants like what they’ve seen from Webb

Newly paid ace Logan Webb was especially hard on himself after allowing the go-ahead homer in Monday night’s loss. It was the fifth homer he’s given up in four starts, and he has lost them all — dropping four consecutive decisions for the first time in his career — and the Giants have fallen in eight of his past 12 starts.

However, Kapler said Tuesday that they have told him to “just stay the course and don’t try to do anything too different” because they “feel like this season is going to be really good for him,” based on a few underlying metrics.

Here’s why:

Strikeout rate: 28.9% (14th in MLB)

Walk rate: 3.1% (5th)

K/BB ratio: 28:3 (5th)

First-strike percentage: 68% (7th)

When it comes to putting away hitters, as in recording a strikeout once the count reaches two strikes, Webb has posted career highs with each of his three offerings: 30.3% with his sinker (4th in MLB, min. 25 batters faced), 29% with his changeup (2nd) and 25% with his slider (15th).

“Logan has been great in all of those process metrics,” Kapler said. “My job, along with our coaching staff, is just to keep all of our players focused on the things that they can control. Logan is doing all those things. He’s controlling the things he can control right now.”

Also: Michael Conforto (calf) was out of the lineup for a fourth consecutive game. While the former Met is confident he’ll be able to return for his old team’s visit to Oracle Park this weekend, he remained available only to pinch-hit. He has been dealing with calf tightness since tweaking it on the base paths Wednesday against the Dodgers.