San Francisco Giants’ Outfield is Suddenly Very Thin

By Sean Bialaszek | Jun 11, 2015

Just a week ago, the San Francisco Giants‘ outfield was pretty crowded. Nori Aoki and Angel Pagan continued to take the field just about every single day. Hunter Pence was getting back into the swing of things following the wrist injury he suffered in Spring Training. Gregor Blanco and Justin Maxwell, the fourth and fifth outfielders, respectively, were having a lot of trouble finding playing time, as the stability in the outfield was a welcome change.

Now, things have changed a lot, again, in the Giants’ outfield. Pence’s wrist problems have flared up again, as he is now dealing with tendinitis in his left wrist, the same one that was fractured in Spring Training. The good news is that there is no problem with the bone, and that Pence thinks the tendinitis was caused by a lack of movement when he was recovering from the fracture.

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The bad news is that Pence is heading back on the disabled list. The league-leading iron man streak that once stood at 383 games is now just a distant memory. He played in just 18 games before his wrist became too much of an issue, and he hasn’t seen the field since the second game of the series with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Because Pence hasn’t played since June 2nd, he will be eligible to come off the disabled list on June 17th, in time for a two-game series in Seattle with the Mariners. If he’ll be ready to play at that point is a different story.

Meanwhile, Blanco, who was swinging a hot bat and getting most of the starts in right field with Pence out, has been placed on the disabled list as well. Blanco was scratched from Tuesday’s series-opening lineup against the New York Mets, although the reasoning was not made immediately clear. After the game, it was revealed that Blanco suffered a concussion when he was hit in the head by a ball thrown by Giants’ first baseman Brandon Belt in batting practice.

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If you just had déjà vu, that’s because Belt dealt with a concussion last season when he was hit in the face by a ball thrown by Marco Scutaro, also in batting practice. Bad luck injuries just seem to follow Belt like a dark cloud, and this time, it rained down on Blanco.

Blanco has been placed on the seven-day concussion disabled list, but with the head injury, there really is no true timetable for his return yet. Belt missed 60 games last year with his concussion, and went through two separate trips to the disabled list. According to Alex Pavlovic, Blanco is dealing with dizziness and headaches, so the main priority will be getting Blanco back to feeling normal.

With the injuries, Maxwell picks up where he left off earlier in the season as the main right fielder. Maxwell has been a defensive revelation in right field, and after an extreme cold stretch, his bat is finding life again. He has two home runs in his past five games, and both were absolute bombs.

To take Blanco’s spot, the Giants called up outfielder Jarrett Parker from Triple-A Sacramento. Parker will likely take the fourth outfielder role, filling in when someone needs a rest day.

Parker was enjoying a nice season down with the River Cats. In 54 games, he was hitting .268 with 12 home runs, 36 RBI, and 12 stolen bases. He was called up for a short time last year, also while the Giants were in New York, but didn’t make his major league debut before being returned to the minor leagues.

With Blanco out, that leaves the Giants without a true backup center fielder behind Pagan. Pagan has been durable so far this year, playing in 57 games so far, but if he were to need a day off, putting someone else in center field would be a risky proposition.

Maxwell has a lot of experience in center field, but he played there just 33 times between 2013 and 2014. He hasn’t taken the middle of the outfield this season. Aoki has played 21 games in center field in his career, but none this year. Parker has been primarily a right fielder in his minor league career, but he has played 122 games in center field in the lower levels.

No move has been announced as of yet to correspond with Pence landing on the disabled list, but there are some options. Juan Perez is still on the 40-man roster, and calling him up would give the Giants the backup center fielder they currently lack. Perez has struggled with the bat down in Sacramento, to the tune of a .233 average, but the Giants wouldn’t be calling him up for his offense. His glove is what makes him so valuable.

The team could also give Adam Duvall the call. Duvall has been tearing the cover of the ball in Triple-A, hitting .284 with 14 doubles, 13 home runs, and 41 RBI. Duvall has also started playing the outfield with a little more regularity, slotting in at left field on some days. His defense still isn’t ideal, but his bat would be a welcome addition on the bench.

One of the more out-of-the-box moves possible would be to bring Travis Ishikawa up. After being designated for assignment last month, Ishikawa is no longer on the 40-man roster, so San Francisco would have to add him to one of the open spots. That creates a problem, however. If the Giants wanted to move Ishikawa back down to Sacramento, they’d have to send him through waivers again. They might not want to risk losing him another time.

In baseball, things can change in the blink of an eye. That’s seemingly how quickly the Giants went from having a crowded outfield to having three outfielders with major league experience. The Giants have gotten through worse situations before. They should be able to work through this one as well.

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