It hasn’t even been a week since the All-Star break ended, but a few of the San Francisco Giants’ regulars will receive a day off in Wednesday’s series finale against the Cleveland Indians.
Since the start of the second half, manager Bruce Bochy has hesitated to switch up his team’s lineup, making just a handful of adjustments, including a few to accommodate a minor injury to first baseman Brandon Belt.
But prior to Tuesday evening’s game at AT&T Park, the Giants’ skipper indicated fans will see a decidedly different looking unit on Wednesday.
Bochy confirmed that catcher Buster Posey will have the day off on Wednesday, and said either right fielder Hunter Pence or center fielder Denard Span will also sit out for the matinee contest.
“Yeah, you’ll see a lot of them (reserves) out there tomorrow,” Bochy said. “Buster (Posey) will be off. (Miguel) Gomez a start, Kelby (Tomlinson) a start. Good chance he’ll be in the outfield.”
With Bochy planning to give reserve infielder Miguel Gomez his first career Major League start, second baseman Joe Panik will also likely have the day off before the Giants begin a four-game set against the San Diego Padres.
Even though the Giants have struggled, winning just one of their first four games since a four-day All-Star break, Bochy will break up his regular lineup against Cleveland Indians’ right-hander Carlos Carrasco, who sports a 10-4 record and a 3.65 earned run average.
The Giants were also forced to shake up their rotation for Wednesday’s contest after right-hander Johnny Cueto was placed on the 10-day disabled list on Saturday afternoon with blisters on his pitching hand. Though San Francisco initially planned to use Matt Cain out of the bullpen during the second half of the season, Cain will start in Cueto’s place.
One regular who likely won’t have the day off is Belt, who missed the previous two games with a sprained wrist. Belt hurt his wrist on a check swing in Saturday evening’s ballgame in San Diego, but said on Monday he felt a considerable amount of improvement and returned to the lineup as expected on Tuesday.
“No (level of concern),” Bochy said. “Unless he tells me I have reason to be concerned, I don’t have many. Trainers said he’s ready to go, he’s playing.”
Injury updates
Bochy offered updates on a pair of injured Giants’ players, closer Mark Melancon and outfielder Jarrett Parker who are both on the disabled list.
Melancon is out with an elbow injury, but said on KNBR on Tuesday afternoon that he’s resumed throwing again and learned after his first disabled list stint this season that it’s imperative he doesn’t rush back to the field.
“No, (Melancon) is just playing catch,” Bochy said. “He’s just playing catch, and doing his rehab. Still a little ways away but making progress.”
Parker, meanwhile, began a rehab assignment with AAA Sacramento at the beginning of July, but needed to come back to San Francisco after experiencing neck stiffness. Bochy said Tuesday that Parker will spend a few more games with the River Cats before San Francisco makes a decision on whether to bring him back to the Major League level.
“(Parker) is doing fine,” Bochy said. “He’s getting his at-bats. His at-bats have been pretty good recently, so he’ll be there for a few more and then we’ll make a call there.”