The news coming out of Giants spring training continues to be less than stellar.
The latest is that outfielder Mitch Haniger — who received a three-year, $43.5 million deal from San Francisco this offseason — is now a question mark for Opening Day with a Grade 1 oblique strain. An MRI revealed the issue on Friday, after Haniger injured it on an awkward swing.
SF is already without outfielder Austin Slater — also a right-handed hitter — who hasn’t appeared in a game in Arizona due to an elbow issue.
According to the Giants, Haniger will be re-evaluated in five to seven days. Gabe Kapler said that SF does not yet know if he’ll be ready to return for the season opener in New York on March 30. Kapler does believe, however, that Slater has a good chance to be ready for the regular season.
“I don’t think anything that has happened thus far changes our early season game planning. My inclination is that (Slater) is trending in a direction where he’s going to be ready for the season for us,” Kapler said via the San Francisco Chronicle. “I don’t have information yet that Mitch won’t be ready for the season for us. Maybe on the same track, maybe just less reps in spring training.”
Haniger has dealt with injuries throughout his career, and played in just 57 games for the Mariners last year. In 2021, Haniger appeared in 157 games for Seattle and slashed .253/.318/.485 with 39 bombs.