San Francisco Giants: the Baseball Gods Offer Quick, Stern Reminder

The San Francisco Giants got plenty of good news on Friday, but the Baseball Gods struck back with bad news to keep them on their toes.

Friday started out as an all-around solid day for the San Francisco Giants.

They welcomed All-Star and Gold Glove second baseman Joe Panik and reliever Mark Melancon back from the disabled list, bringing them just a tad bit closer to having their best roster. They confirmed that intriguing rookie Dereck Rodriguez would start on Sunday after a scary comebacker on Tuesday, and also confirmed that ace Madison Bumgarner would make his long-awaited big league return next Tuesday.

After all that technical business was sorted out, they went out and played one of their best games of the past month. Chris Stratton shook off a horrid May, bringing back memories of an April where he cruised to a 2.32 ERA in his first five starts. The lineup did their job, working counts, making productive outs, and cashing in with ducks on the pound. The 4-0 final was a gentle reminder that this team can actually be pretty good sometimes.

But the Baseball Gods swiftly and sternly offered a different reminder, that happiness is fleeting and the possibility for disaster is always right around the corner, waiting to strike. “Don’t get too high in the clouds, or we’ll bring you crashing back down”, they said. The Giants had their best lineup for a full two innings before those mythical baseball overlords struck, taking potential All-Star first baseman Brandon Belt off the field.

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It was initially termed as a stomach illness, but after the game word of appendicitis came out. There were no further updates and probably won’t be until before the game on Saturday, but surgery is the most likely outcome. The length of Belt’s absence then depends on the severity. If they caught it early and the appendix didn’t rupture, he could be back on the team in a couple weeks. If it did rupture, it would take a lot longer than that.

Either way, the Giants will have to navigate without their best hitter for about two weeks, minimum. Belt leads the offense in just about every category, on-base percentage (.403), slugging percentage (.547), home runs (11), runs scored (32), is tied for the lead in RBI (31), and second in average (.307). Also, he is again playing Gold Glove caliber defense. No matter who takes his spot at first base for the time being, it will be a downgrade.

Now the question becomes, who will it be taking over at first base? Pablo Sandoval has become super utility infielder this year (and emergency catcher and pitcher), but could take over at first on most days. Buster Posey is also an option with Nick Hundley sliding behind the plate, as they did last season. Chris Shaw is currently on the disabled list in Sacramento, but even if he weren’t injured, the Giants already have a ton of roster juggling to do in the coming days without having to think about getting someone else on the 40-man roster. Ryder Jones is already on the 40-man roster and swinging a good bat in Sacramento, but it would be a big task to hand him the big league first base job right now after his struggles with San Francisco last year. That probably leaves Posey and Sandoval at first in the coming weeks.

For Belt, the bad luck just keeps coming. Between concussions caused by thrown balls or infielder’s knees or pitches, and broken bones in the hand caused hit HBPs, and now his own body betraying him, the first baseman just can not catch a break.

With or without Belt, Friday night’s contest was evidence of what the Giants need to do to stay in the race in the National League West. They received an excellent outing from their starting pitcher, and the bullpen was just as good when he departed. The offense came up with timely hits and did the little things right, getting down bunts and moving runners over. It seems so simple, but it’s a recipe the team hasn’t been able to follow much lately.

Next: Giants Notes from a Weird May

This is a big blow, even if Belt does only miss a couple weeks, and a hearty reminder that good news and bad news always go hand-in-hand.

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