San Francisco Giants Morning Minute: Let’s Talk About Injured Giants
On this edition of the San Francisco Giants Morning Minute, we discuss the Giants’ injured players and when we might see them back.
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Good morning, San Francisco Giants’ fans, and welcome to another edition of the Giants Morning Minute. On Wednesday, the Giants dropped game three, and the series, to the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1. Dan Straily (6-6) earned the win while Madison Bumgarner (10-6) took another tough-luck loss. Tony Cingrani closed it out for his 12th save. The Giants are now 2-9 since the second half opened.
The Los Angeles Dodgers also fell on Wednesday, losing a 2-1 decision to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Giants’ lead in the National League West remains 2.5 games. On an interesting note, no first-place team in baseball has a winning record in their past 10 games. The Chicago Cubs and Baltimore Orioles are both 5-5, but all other division-leading teams are on the losing side.
Let’s talk about some of the injured Giants.
1 – Hunter Pence
Normal Giants’ right fielder Hunter Pence was in his usual post for the Sacramento River Cats again on Wednesday, and stayed there for all nine innings for the second straight day. Pence went to the plate four times and collected one hit, but that one hit left the ballpark, his second home run in as many games and third in six games on the rehab assignment.
From a hitting standpoint, Pence looks just about ready to be the Giants’ “ridiculous weapon” again. He’s hitting .450 (9-20) as a River Cat, including those three home runs, a pair of doubles, and six RBI, and he’s starting to play full games in the outfield.
But the team has to be certain that Pence’s surgically-repaired hamstring can handle playing a full nine innings multiple days in a row. The team wants him to get around 30 at-bats with Sacramento, and he’s at 20 right now. He’ll probably play through the weekend with Sacramento, with a day off sprinkled in there somewhere, and he seems like a good candidate to re-join the Giants on the next road trip. Maybe with the Giants’ day off on Monday, Pence can be activated ahead of their series with the Philadelphia Phillies, the team from which Pence was traded in 2012.
2 – Joe Panik
Second baseman Joe Panik started for Sacramento for the second straight day, and picked up a pair of hits in his four at-bats. He was lifted after seven innings, the scheduled allotment for Panik. After playing five innings on Tuesday, he should be good to go for a full nine on Thursday.
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- 49ers: George Kittle and Deebo Samuel cleared to return to practice
- 49ers expected to place DE Dee Ford on injured reserve
After getting off to a real slow start with the bat, it seems Panik’s timing is coming around. He didn’t have a hit in three at-bats Tuesday, but he hit the ball hard a couple of times, and had what was initially ruled a hit overturned for an error. One of his hits on Wednesday went right back up the middle into center field, while the other was pulled into right field.
It’s possible that Panik’s nine-inning affair on Thursday is his final game with Sacramento. It wouldn’t be crazy to think that if everything goes well in that game, he could take a day off on Friday and be in the big league lineup on Saturday against the Washington Nationals. However, it also wouldn’t be surprising if he got another day of rehab either.
3 – Ehire Adrianza
Ehire Adrianza has mostly played shortstop through his rehab, both with the San Jose Giants and the River Cats, but he was in the lineup at third base on Wednesday, the second time he’s started at third during his assignment. He was in the field for all nine innings for the sixth straight game. In five at-bats, Adrianza collected one hit, a double down the left field line, and scored a run. He also reached on an error, and brought home a run on a double play.
At this point in his rehab, Adrianza looks ready to re-join the Giants whenever they want to pick up the phone. He’s shown he can play full games on the field, and that his fractured foot hasn’t given him problems so far.
Of course, it’s also a possibility that the Giants don’t bring him back at all. When the clock runs out on his rehab stint in less than a week, the Giants could designate him, as none of the team’s current backup infielders (Ramiro Peña, Conor Gillaspie, and Grant Green) have options. They may be continuing his rehab, despite his success and progress, because they are waiting it out to see if an opportunity arises to get him on the roster.
4 – Matt Duffy and Cory Gearrin
These two are not yet on rehab assignments, but that could change soon. Gearrin, sidelined with a shoulder strain, threw a bullpen session on Wednesday and seems to have come out of it okay, but the team will wait a couple days to ensure there are no setbacks. If everything continues as planned, he’ll be good to go on an assignment.
Nothing’s changed with Duffy since yesterday’s update. He still needs to run the bases as the final test for his strained achilles before heading on a rehab assignment.
Next: Giants Morning Minute: Cain Gives Up Longballs, Still Improves
And that will do it for this edition of the Giants Morning Minute. Up next, the Giants start a four-game set with the Washington Nationals to finish off this homestand. Johnny Cueto will go for the Giants, opposed by Tanner Roark for Washington.