"Batting practice was optional for the Giants' position players Monday, following a late-night arrival back home from St. Louis. Still, a smattering of players gathered around the cage inside Oracle Park to watch a couple other athletes take some hacks. Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, the San Jose Sharks' top picks in the past two drafts and their two biggest stars, traded in their skates for spikes and took BP before the Giants began their homestand against the Arizona Diamondbacks."
"Celebrini's lineage is well known in these parts, the son of Warriors head trainer Rick Celebrini, but did you know Smith's family tree runs deep in baseball? He is the great, great grandson of the former White Sox owner Charles Comiskey and also played shortstop growing up before settling on hockey. The San Jose Sharks Macklin Celebrini, left, and Will Smith talk to Giants hitting coach behind the batting cage at Oracle Park on Monday, September 8, 2025. (Evan Webeck / Bay Area News Group)"
"It showed, as Smith could almost pass as the Dodgers catcher by the same name, lining a few pitches into the outfield with a smooth right-handed swing. Celebrini stopped playing baseball when he was 7 years old and didn't look quite as natural from the left side. Both players sent a couple balls to the warning track, but neither will challenge Brandin Podziemski as the best cross-sport performance."
Batting practice was optional for the Giants' position players after a late-night return from St. Louis, but several players gathered at Oracle Park to watch two Sharks stars hit. Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, the San Jose Sharks' top picks in the past two drafts, traded skates for spikes and took batting practice before the Giants' homestand against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Smith produced several well-struck balls with a smooth right-handed swing while Celebrini, who quit baseball at age seven, looked less natural batting left-handed. Smith is a great-great-grandson of Charles Comiskey and played shortstop before focusing on hockey.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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