Kyle Crick fought his way to the big leagues.
So it’s no surprise that when Crick made his Major League debut on Thursday evening in Atlanta, the 24-year-old right-hander came out punching.
After spending six years in the Giants’ organization, the team’s second overall draft pick from 2011 threw 2 and 1/3 scoreless innings against a Braves lineup that had already pushed 12 runs across the scoreboard.
Crick arrived in the Major Leagues in unspectacular fashion, receiving a call-up after Giants reliever Derek Law gave up four runs without recording an out in a Giants’ loss on Monday evening, and his first appearance wasn’t exactly a high-leverage situation.
But Crick has pitched with his body against the ropes before, and on Thursday evening, he gave everything he had to keep the Giants in the game. Though San Francisco couldn’t rally from a 12-6 deficit, Crick’s scoreless outing allowed the Giants to mount a five-run comeback and put a scare in the Braves before ultimately falling 12-11.
“Nice job the kid did,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “Came in throwing strikes and had a good slider. I thought it was a great debut for him. We need the help, I mean we are short on pitching and he gave us two plus innings, which was huge. With Strickland down we’re short right now so he gave us a little lift there in the bullpen and helped rest a couple guys.”
One of the highest touted prospects in the Giants’ organization early in his career, Crick suffered from control issues when he reached AA Richmond, and repeated at the level three times, bottoming out in 2016 when he posted a 4-11 record and a 5.06 earned run average.
However, San Francisco’s management never gave up on the Sherman, Texas native with a power fastball, and this year, he regained his confidence following a transition to the bullpen.
“He’s just maturing as a pitcher and as a person too I think,” Bochy said. “You can see the growth in this guy and we saw it this spring. Because he was getting his other pitches over too, but commanding his fastball better. Sometimes it takes guys a little bit longer. I know he was in Ritchmond trying to figure it out then made the jump up to Sacremento this year finally and threw the ball well. He’s got a well deserved promotion and it’s good to see him throw like that.”
After working his way through the Giants’ system as a starter for five seasons, Crick blossomed as a reliever in AAA Sacramento this season, racking up 39 strikeouts while issuing just 13 walks over 24 appearances. So when Law struggled on Monday and the Giants were forced to reach into the minor leagues for bullpen help, Crick finally heard his name called.
The Giants have waited a long time to see what Crick looks like in the ring, and after round one, so far, so good.
Nunez to the disabled list
Bochy said Friday that San Francisco has placed third baseman Eduardo Nunez on the disabled list and recalled infielder Conor Gillaspie from AAA Sacramento.
“He’s (Nunez) just not ready to go,” Bochy said. “Showed up today and still feels it. We said we’d make a call today so he’s going on the disabled list and Connor Gilisspie comes off.”
Nunez has been the second most consistent hitter in the Giants lineup this season behind catcher Buster Posey, but has sat out six of their past seven games with a sore hamstring. Bochy said after the team arrived in San Francisco in the wee hours of Friday morning, they placed a call to bring back Gillaspie, who was on a rehab assignment after suffering a back injury earlier this season.
Gillaspie will take Nunez’s spot at third base on Friday and bat second in the Giants lineup.
Okert up, Morris designated for assignment
After Law was sent back to AAA earlier this week, the Giants had a second reliever suffer a blowup in Atlanta, as right-hander Bryan Morris allowed five runs in 2/3 of an inning on Thursday evening.
The Giants elected to designate Morris for assignment on Friday, and called up left-hander Steven Okert to take his place on the 25-man roster. Okert gives the Giants a second left-handed arm in their bullpen, as he’ll join Josh Osich.
“It just gives us another lefty to go with Osich,” Bochy said. “You give one lefty and you end up getting one. You get them up a lot and there’s days you can’t use them. This gives us coverage on the left handed side. I talked to Mo and he wasn’t quite as sharp as he’d like to be. Looking at the situation, sometimes moves are made to help strengthen the bullpen and we felt we could use another left hander.”
Okert was selected by the Giants in the fourth round of the 2012 MLB Draft, and made his debut with San Francisco in 2016. Okert has already appeared in 19 games at the Major League level this season, but was sent back to AAA after posting a 6.23 earned run average in 13.0 innings.
Posey, Pence sitting
The Giants used catcher Buster Posey at first base on Thursday in Atlanta, and after a long flight across the country, Posey is out of the Giants lineup on Thursday as Nick Hundley will start in his place.
Right fielder Hunter Pence is also out of the lineup after a big series against the Braves. After struggling for most of June, Pence has come on strong of late, recording a .349 batting average and six extra base hits over the Giants’ last 11 games.
