Three hours before the first pitch of the Giants’ season, Evan Longoria walked up the home dugout steps. He sported a bulky brace that stabilized his right pointer and middle finger together, wrapped around with bright red medical tape from his knuckles to his wrist.
Longoria, 36, took one-handed grounders at his normal position at third. His healthy glove hand needs to stay locked in. But he won’t be fully back in action for weeks; the initial prognosis of four-to-six weeks from his March 30 surgery remains intact.
Still, talking to reporters in the Giants’ clubhouse before Opening Day, the veteran currently on the 10-day injured list was in good spirits.
“When they told me it would be four to six weeks, it feels like it’s progressing at that pace right now,” Longoria said. “So that’s positive.”
The third baseman is 10 days removed from undergoing surgery to repair a ligament in his right index finger. The surgery, to Longoria’s understanding, involves drilling two holes in the bone and inserting anchors.
Today, he’s getting the stitches removed and no longer needs to wear a splint to immobilize it all the time.
“I feel pretty confident that it’s moving in the right direction now and hopefully we can be pretty close if not beat that timetable,” Longoria said.
The next step for Longoria is strengthening grip exercises, which he hopes to begin on Day 14 — four days from Friday. Getting to the point where he can split his pointer and middle finger to grip a ball and throw is the eventual goal.
Longoria is not sure exactly how this specific ligament injury occurred, but he got hit by an Edwin Diaz pitch late last season. That resulted in a Grade 1 ligament strain, but he thought the pain would go away with rest during the offseason. Instead it persisted through spring training.
If it was the middle of the season, Longoria said, he may have been advised to play through it. But the pain makes every throw painful; swinging a bat is easier because he can grip with other fingers’ support.
So Longoria is beginning the season on the injured list, where he’s spent far too much time for anyone’s liking since being traded to San Francisco in San Francisco.
Longoria was a beacon of health and durability in Tampa Bay, where he played at least 156 games for five straight years before the trade. He started every Opening Day from 2009 to 2019.
Injuries, though have plagued Longoria in the Bay. A fractured hand sidelined him for two months in 2018 (the same surgeon who repaired his hand fixed up his finger). He missed the 2020 opener with an oblique strain and, after a scorching hot start last year, a shoulder strain sunk his season.
“I’m pretty happy with the the way it’s going,” Longoria said. “Obviously not happy that I don’t get to put a uniform on and run out there for Opening Day for real.”
Without Longoria, the Giants are short one right-handed bat. Longoria posted an elite 1.088 OPS against left-handed pitchers last year. Wilmer Flores, another southpaw masher, is starting Opening Day at the hot corner and is expected to take Longoria’s place regularly while the veteran’s on the IL.
It’ll still be hard to replace Longoria’s production. When healthy, he’s one of San Francisco’s most dangerous hitters, someone who can spray the ball to all parts of the park.
“I think it’s important to acknowledge that Opening Day is tough for injured players and for guys that are not on the field,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “Guys who came into camp in really good condition and expected to be on the field for Opening Day. With Longo, given how competitive he is, I think it’s especially tough. It’s tough to watch him on the plane with a brace on and know that he wasn’t going to be ready for us — both for him as a person and for us as the Giants. He’s a professional, he’s preparing for the moment that he is ready, but there’s no question this is a challenge for us.”
Tommy La Stella and LaMonte Wade Jr. join Longoria on the injured list to start the year. Kapler had no updates for Wade Jr., but the outfielder did light stretching and exercises in left field both Friday and at the team’s voluntary workout Thursday.
La Stella, meanwhile, is still working on building up his strength to run after undergoing Achilles surgery last October. He was scratched from the team’s Cactus League finale after experiencing soreness from running and playing the field. There’s no timetable for his return; the second baseman said he’s taking it day-by-day with around-the-clock treatment.