LOS ANGELES — The Giants’ roster is getting more and more unfamiliar.
Austin Slater became the latest player to hit the injured list on Monday, joining Alex Wood, Joey Bart, Brandon Belt and other contributors.
Slater injured his left pinky finger sliding into second base on Aug. 30 against the Padres. He had since been available off the bench for defense and pinch-running, but struggled to grip and swing a bat. A second opinion Monday recommended 10 days of rest, making the IL a natural move.
“It’s actually the same diagnosis: it’s a dislocated finger that comes with a sprain near the joint,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “I think now we’re at a place where we should expect to be without him for at least 10 days, and maybe a few days after that.”
He made a sliding catch over the weekend as a defensive replacement, but gripping a bat is still too difficult for Slater to perform. Slater has been one of SF’s most productive position players this year, hitting .267 with a .773 OPS while often playing center field. His IL stint is retroactive to Sept. 4.
“He’s able to do everything other than hit,” Kapler said.
San Francisco recalled right-handed reliever Yunior Marte from Triple-A Sacramento in a corresponding move. Marte could provide multiple innings as soon as Monday night.
Marte gives the Giants an extra option out of the bullpen — a necessity even more now that they won’t have a traditional starter for Tuesday’s game. That would have been Alex Wood’s start, but he’s sidelined with a shoulder impingement that could hold him out for the remainder of the season.
Injuries, combined with expanded rosters and a standings gap that makes seeing what the club has for the future more pressing than September results, have thrust unproven players into the Dodgers-Giants rivalry.
Lewis Brinson, a former top prospect acquired last week for cash, is leading off for a second straight game. Bryce Johnson, who recorded his first MLB hit Sunday, is starting in right field. David Villar, on hardly anyone’s radar at the start of 2022, is at first and hitting eighth.
Both project as plus outfielders, but the Giants prefer to slate Brinson in center field and the speedy Johnson in a corner because he’s more versatile in the field. Johnson and Brinson are joined in the outfield by Thairo Estrada — normally a middle infielder. Slater would have certainly started against Dodgers lefty Andrew Heaney.
Villar, meanwhile, has hit one home run in 26 games with the big-league club this season. His performance at the Triple-A level this season — 27 homers and a 1.022 OPS — and last year in Double-A have earned him a long runway to prove himself in The Show, Kapler said.
“We want to see as much as David as possible,” Kapler said. “It’s a play for tonight, but it’s also a play for the next several years. We want to see how he looks at first base, at third base, at second base if we need him there, and maybe even at the right time in left field.”
A September like this is an opportunity for players like Villar to make an impression. The power he showed with the River Cats hasn’t yet transferred to MLB action, but San Francisco believes in the talent. Kapler compared the dynamic to digging for treasure — if you give up too early, you might never know you were inches away from riches.
“This is the give and take of these opportunities,” Kapler said. “There’s going to come a point in time where David has to take control and seize this moment. It hasn’t happened yet.”
- The Giants shortened their batting practice session due to the ongoing heat wave and a tough week of games; SF travels to Milwaukee for a double-header Thursday after this three-game series in Los Angeles. After BP, a massive caravan of Dodger fans took a lap around the Dodger Stadium with their dogs. Dog Days, indeed.
- Bart is expected to return to the lineup Tuesday, the first day he’s eligible to come off the concussion IL. He experienced mild symptoms and felt better after a few days, which is when he resumed baseball activities. This was his second concussion; he suffered one on a similar foul tip around this time last year.
- SF has lost eight consecutive games to the rival Dodgers this season. A ninth straight loss would make this the Giants’ longest losing streak against LA since 1953.