The Giants have something of a tricky situation in their middle infield, with the 36-year-old Brandon Crawford nursing a hamstring injury and Thairo Estrada still expected to miss 3-to-5 weeks as he recovers from a fractured hand.
It’s put the likes of Casey Schmitt and Brett Wisely into action. But with the trade deadline on August 1 starting to come into focus, it begs the question as to whether the Giants should make a move.
Duane Kuiper thinks the Giants should hold firm in the middle infield, as he told Murph and Mac on Tuesday when asked about a potential trade.
No, I don’t think so. I mean, if you trade for somebody to play second, and now you got Estrada coming back fairly soon, now you got extra people laying all over the place. Look, is it a perfect situation with Schmitt and Wisely? It’s not. But they put on a show Sunday defensively. And Schmitt is starting to swing the bat a little bit better.
Wisely, school’s out as far as whether he can figure out getting on base. He had a bunt single the other day. I mean, get on any way you can. But like I said it’s not a perfect situation. But that’s what happens with injuries. Nothing’s perfect. Schmitt has to be around because of his ability to play that position when Crawford is not available.
His value is off the charts when it comes to the number of different ways that he can win a game for you. And he’s been winning games for them lately with his glove. Has hit some balls hard lately, hasn’t gotten a whole lot of luck. But I think we’re gonna see him come back offensively and start to contribute.
Wisely’s a wild card. He had a really nice defensive series on this home stand and and I was taught a long time ago, those positions up to middle, don’t lose your glove, kid. So if he keeps doing that he’s going to be fine.
It’s a less-than-ideal situation for the Giants as things stand, with Wisely batting .189 and Schmitt hitting .228 after a red-hot start to his MLB career. But for now, Kuiper thinks they should hold firm.
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