Neither of the two longest tenured active Giants are starting Thursday’s series finale against the Colorado Rockies at Oracle Park.
Brandon Crawford, who left Tuesday’s game early with right quad tightness, is out of the starting lineup. Belt, who’s missed the past 18 games with knee inflammation, is considered day-to-day — but his activation from the injured list isn’t expected to come for Friday’s series opener against the Dodgers.
Manager Gabe Kapler said there isn’t much else to report on Belt, who said earlier this week that he’s not particularly surprised his recovery has taken this long. It’s not something the veteran first baseman should rush back from, he said.
“Day-to-day, but not tomorrow,” Kapler said. “You want to leave open the possibility that things accelerate, but it’s not going to be tomorrow.”
Belt, 34, last played on May 18 in Coors Field. He’s hitting .228 with four home runs — all of which came in April — on the year.
Crawford, meanwhile, is expected to be available off the bench despite the leg tightness and a sinus infection. He pinch-hit in Wednesday night’s extra-innings win but popped up to second base. The shortstop will likely be ready to go for the Dodgers series, given he’ll have essentially two off days in a row.
Donovan Walton will start in Crawford’s place at shortstop and hit ninth against Colorado.
Against the Dodgers, the Giants will throw Jakob Junis on Friday and Carlos Rodón on Sunday. The second game’s starter is still to be determined, with Sam Long as a possible candidate. Long threw three hitless innings on Tuesday, earning praise from Kapler postgame. He could appear again in Thursday’s finale, the manager said.
San Francisco’s bullpen had a league-worst 6.26 ERA in the month of May, but the club remains confident in the core group of relievers that performed so well for it in 2021.
“We feel fine about bullpen games or games where we’re mixing and matching a little bit because we have a lot of trust in our bullpen,” Kapler said. “Last night was an indication that we still have a very good bullpen that can pitch in close games and manage tough situations.”
- LaMonte Wade Jr., as expected, will begin a rehab assignment today for the Sacramento River Cats. His progression from a sore knee has been a big point of optimism for the club.
- Catcher Austin Wynns, who was acquired Wednesday, will make his Giants debut on Thursday. The Giants traded for the catcher and demoted rookie Joey Bart; the former No. 2 overall pick is still taking some time before returning to game action.
“Joey is finishing up another day of kind of getting away from the game,” Kapler said. “We have a good plan in place…we have a developmental plan for him. We feel like there’s some adjustments he can make mechanically, we think there’s some adjustments he can make from a prep and mental standpoint. We’re not abandoning Joey, sending him to Triple-A and like forgetting about him. We’re going to be very invested in what happens from here.”
- Last night’s starter, Alex Wood, got through a lineup thrice for the first time this season. It was a big hurdle for him mentally and he thought about Kapler’s decision to ride with him a lot after the game last night. Wood called the performance a “morale boost” on Thursday.
“He made a bet on me to get through the lineup in that sixth and go back out for the seventh,” Wood told KNBR. “And it worked out. Do I think it’ll be that decision every time? Absolutely not. More times than not, it’s probably the other way around. But last night worked out the way it did, and hopefully that’ll earn more opportunities to do it moving forward. It was great.”