SAN FRANCISCO–There will be a mini-reunion of sorts Tuesday night in Sacramento
Joe Panik and Johnny Cueto will begin their rehab assignments with AAA Sacramento Tuesday, with Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy revealing that both will need at least two starts before being called back up.
“Joe we’re looking at going five innings today, seven tomorrow,” Bochy said. “Sacramento is off tomorrow, so he’ll have to go down to Visalia where San Jose is playing — he’ll play seven innings there. Johnny we’re hoping to get three innings out of him.”
Bochy also indicated that Cueto would need at least one more start regardless of how he pitched on Tuesday, and that Panik should be back with the team during their upcoming road trip.
With Chris Stratton coming off his second straight quality outing, questions arose on whether the Giants would consider a six-man rotation once Cueto returns.
“We’ve talked about that, how we can keep these guys going,” Bochy said. “We’ll answer that once he (Cueto) comes back. You have to like the way he (Stratton) is throwing the ball, there’s two really nice starts against two very good hitting ball clubs. It’s up to us to get creative to keep these guys going.
“It could be we skip somebody, give someone a break in the season, go to a six-man, these are things we’re talking about now.”
Bochy also touched on the timing of rookie outfielder Austin Slater’s return, as Slater has resumed some baseball activities and was taking flyballs at AT&T Park before Tuesday’s game.
“He’s (Slater) still a little ways away,” Bochy said. “He’s not going to run today, he’ll run tomorrow, but he’ll do the rest of the baseball activities. He’s probably 10 days to two weeks away from starting rehab.”
Bochy also discussed the timing of Slater’s potential rehab assignment, as San Francisco’s Minor League affiliates will begin to wrap up their seasons in the first week of September.
“Maybe Arizona,” Bochy added. “It’s going to be real tight as to whether he’ll have some time to go to Sacramento before their season’s over or not, or even San Jose. I can’t answer that right now until I know what day he’ll be ready.”