San Francisco Giants' Kelby Tomlinson (37) throws the ball during morning workouts before the game against Los Angeles Angels in the Cactus League opener at Scottsdale Stadium in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Wednesday, March 2, 2016. (Josie Lepe/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO – The Giants had to place an important player on the disabled list with a thumb injury Friday afternoon.
Stop your simpering. You can pull back the covers from over your head. It wasn’t Buster Posey.
Posey is back in the lineup for Friday night’s glittering matchup at AT&T Park between Johnny Cueto and the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw -- two pitchers whose teams have matching 11-1 records in their starts. Some darn good baseball ahead, it would appear.
Posey had missed the previous three games over five days because of an irritated nerve in his right thumb that necessitated a cortisone shot.
“He felt a lot better today,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s well enough to play, so that’s good news.”
The bad news, and yes, it is significant: Kelby Tomlinson will be lost to the club for roughly three weeks.
The versatile backup infielder woke up Thursday with pain and swelling in his left thumb after diving for a ball the previous night against the Boston Red Sox. Test showed that he sprained a thumb ligament and he’ll have to wear a splint for two weeks.
The Giants purchased the contract of infielder Ramiro Peña from Triple-A Sacramento and transferred right-hander Sergio Romo to the 60-day disabled list to create space on the 40-man roster.
Tomlinson told trainers he jammed his thumb while diving for a ball in the seventh inning Wednesday, but did his usual postgame gym routine and didn’t seek any treatment. Giants manager Bruce Bochy had inserted Joe Panik for Tomlinson in the ninth inning Wednesday, but that was for defensive purposes. The manager said he was shocked when he heard on Thursday that Tomlinson had to go for tests.
“He woke up and it was killing him,” Bochy said. “When I took him out, I didn’t know he was hurting.”
Bochy is hoping that Tomlinson can resume baseball activities after two weeks and would require just one more week to be ready.
Tomlinson had made two starts in left field and was poised to contribute there more often, especially in a series like this one when the Dodgers are starting three left-handed pitchers.
Bochy, asked by a reporter from Los Angeles why he had five left-handed hitters in his lineup against Kershaw, gave a candid answer.
“Well, it’s not like I’ve got a lot of options here,” Bochy said. “And that’s not to get on my bench.”
Backup catcher Trevor Brown and Peña, who just arrived, are Bochy’s only right-handed options.
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Angel Pagan can’t return soon enough, and if all goes well in his minor league rehab games, the Giants won’t have to wait much longer.
Pagan is scheduled to join Triple-A Sacramento in El Paso to play in rehab games Saturday and Sunday. It’s possible the Giants could activate him for Monday’s game against Milwaukee. More likely, he’d continue the assignment with a home game Monday at Sacramento. Then if all goes well, he’d take Tuesday off and be activated for the Giants’ homestand finale Wednesday against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Pagan hasn’t played since May 23 after aggravating a strained hamstring.
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It sounds as if the Giants prefer for Matt Cain to be activated and return to the rotation Monday against the Brewers. Bochy held off making any pronouncements on Cain because he wants to make sure the right-hander comes out of a bullpen session with no issues.
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Peña, a 30-year-old switch-hitter, was a part-time player with the Yankees from 2009-12 and last appeared in the majors with the Atlanta Braves in 2014.
“He gives us experience and he can play everywhere,” Bochy said. “It wasn’t the best spring he had, but he’s really picked up his game at Sacramento.”
Peña was batting .304/.360/.424 with four home runs in 49 games for the River Cats.
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It’s too bad the Giants don’t have a healthy Ehire Adrianza right now, and not just because he owns a home run off Kershaw.
Adrianza is making progress, though. A CT scan showed his fractured foot is healing and he expects to start playing in minor league rehab games by the end of June. For now, he is throwing and hitting indoors. He hasn’t started jogging yet.
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The Giants have another player in the organization who owns not one but three homers off Kershaw – the third most of anyone to step in against the Dodger’ left-hander.
Unfortunately for Bochy, Chris Denorfia isn’t available, either. He just signed a minor league contract with the Giants and hasn’t faced live pitching since the end of March, when he opted out of his non-guaranteed deal with the Yankees.
Bochy said Denorfia would spend a couple weeks in extended spring before he’d receive an assignment, most likely to Triple-A Sacramento.
“Then we’ll see where we’re at,” Bochy said. “I’ve always liked him. He can run, steal a base, and he’s always swung the bat very well against us. It gives us more depth.”
Just not immediate depth.
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The move with Romo, by the way, is purely procedural because the Giants can backdate him to his last appearance on April 10. Romo, who is working his way back from a strained flexor tendon near the elbow, will resume throwing off a mound Saturday.
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Lineups:
CF Span
2B Panik
3B Duffy
C Posey
1B Belt
LF Williamson
SS Crawford
RF Parker
RHP Cueto
2B Utley
SS Seager
3B Turner
1B Gonzalez
RF Thompson
CF Pederson
C Grandal
LF Hernandez
LHP Kershaw
The post Giants notes: Buster Posey returns but another key right-handed hitter lands on disabled list, Matt Cain and Angel Pagan edge closer to returning, etc. appeared first on Giants Extra.