SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Perhaps no one in the Giants’ clubhouse is looking forward to Opening Day more than Evan Longoria.

The quicker the 2019 season arrives, the quicker he can put 2018 behind him.

“I feel like a completely different player right now,” Longoria said at his Scottsdale Stadium locker, unable to hide the excitement he feels for a chance at a do-over. “I’m definitely in a better place in my head than I was last year.”

There’s a lot of buzz around Longoria in training camp. His swing looks good, and he’s making loud contact. Some of his plays at third base are reminders of his Gold Glove past.

He’s healthy, and it shows.

“I feel more comfortable,” Longoria said. “I want to win and get back to the playoffs. I know a certain percentage of that is my role. I expect to go out there and perform the way I’m capable. I’m really looking forward to this year.”

For a decade, Longoria was an elite third baseman with the Tampa Bay Rays, a three-time All-Star who hit .270 and averaged 26 homers and 89 RBIs. He was traded to San Francisco in December 2017, and his world changed.

Longoria opened 0-for-17, including a hitless four-game series at Dodger Stadium, and seemed to spend the rest of the season trying to catch up.

He finished with the lowest batting average of his 11-year career. His on-base and on-base plus slugging percentages had never been worse. He set a career high for errors. He missed six weeks with a broken hand. It wasn’t an easy adjustment to a new team, a new league, a new park.

Especially a new park.

Transitioning from Tropicana Field to AT&T Park is as drastic as it gets. From a cozy, domed, artificially turfed stadium, where the hops are true and the temperature is constant, to a spacious ballpark by the bay, where the elements are perhaps the toughest in the majors.

“Last year, mentally, it was a grind,” Longoria said. “Coming from playing indoors for 10 years to playing in that atmosphere, it’s a little tougher.”

Longoria began a hitting program in early January in Scottsdale, accompanied by batting coach Alonzo Powell, who’s anticipating a bounce-back season.

“People take the newness for granted. Longo had basically a 10-year book on the American League East,” Powell said. “Now you come to a different league. Everything’s new. Rhythm and familiarity are really important. To his credit, he came into camp in great shape. If he stays healthy, we’re going to see the Longo we’re used to seeing.”

Longoria singled in his first at-bat Saturday and is hitting .412 in 17 at-bats. If he’s to have a big season, he’ll need to succeed at China Basin, where he hit just four of his 16 homers. His road slugging percentage was .474, just .336 at home.

The ballpark has a new name, and the 33-year-old Longoria has a new approach.

“I’m trying to think the opposite this year,” he said. “I’m going to tell myself it’s a great ballpark to hit in. I’m going to go in there with a different mentality this year and try to make the adjustments accordingly.

“The worst mind-set you could have is to go into your home ballpark and say we’ve got no chance to score runs and not feel good about hitting. We have a lot of positives going for us there. Obviously, the fans are a huge home-field advantage there.

“Playing at home, we should feel a certain advantage because we should be used to that colder weather, the wetness and dampness of the bay. So I’m trying to take that mentality this year instead of letting it be a detriment.”

Longoria was somewhat of an ironman with Tampa Bay, averaging 160 games his final five seasons. As a Giant, he had his share of nagging injuries and then took a pitch off the fifth metacarpal in his left hand in June.

Surgery followed, and it wasn’t as if Longoria was 100 percent when he returned in late July. Nine months after the operation, he’s feeling right and approaching a second season with the Giants that he hopes will be more in line with his career norm.

“Rightfully so, he’s got a chip on his shoulder,” Powell said. “He knows he’s better than what he did last year. Hopefully, he goes out there and proves he’s the player everybody knows he is.”

March 28 can’t come fast enough. The Giants play their opener in San Diego, and Longoria will have a clean slate and, he hopes, a clean bill of health.

“I put myself in a hole early on, and I was in a new place having to fight through that,” Longoria said. “I’m looking to change that this year, start off hot early and build off that.”

John Shea is The San Francisco Chronicle’s national baseball writer. Email: jshea@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnSheaHey