San Francisco Giants: Injuries By the Numbers
273
Apr 9, 2015; San Diego, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants right fielder Hunter Pence (8) watches the jumbotron in the dugout during the fourth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
273 is the combined number of games missed (so far) by players who should be, or would be, in the Giants’ starting lineup everyday. Hunter Pence, formerly mister durability during his tenure with the Giants, has missed 109 games so far, after playing each and every day over the past two seasons. Nori Aoki has missed 53 games after being the Giants’ acquisition of the year, and very nearly an All-Star early in 2015. Joe Panik, an All-Star who looked like a potential batting champion, has missed 48 games.
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Gregor Blanco, the perennial outfield savior who would have played in either Pence or Aoki’s stead, has been absent for 21 games. Angel Pagan has missed 20 games, though he has since returned from his disabled list stint and looks like a new man.
Brandon Crawford, in the midst of a breakout season and an All-Star for the first time, has missed 14 games, all late in the season, because of a pair of injuries that have aggravated each other. Finally, Brandon Belt has missed eight games, four of which came extremely early in the season because of a hamstring pull he suffered chasing a pop-up, while the rest of which are part of a current streak.
The lineup has been mix-and-match on a lot of days, looking like manager Bruce Bochy pulled random strips of paper with player names out of a hat to get a lineup together. It’s not his fault. The Giants have been missing a key piece to their everyday lineup at just about every point this season, and most of the time, they were without multiple big time players.
Next: On the Shelf