SAN FRANCISCO – Whether the Giants are contending or not, Bruce Bochy doesn’t want to find himself embarrassingly short of players – especially while operating with an expanded roster.
Using two starting pitchers as pinch hitters in Tuesday night’s loss? Yeah, that’s a pretty good clue that you need more healthy bodies in the dugout.
So prior to Wednesday’s series finale against the Cincinnati Reds, the Giants purchased the contracts of outfielder Mac Williamson and catcher Trevor Brown from Triple-A Sacramento. Both players would’ve been added to the 40-man roster in the offseason anyway, to shield them from being taken in the Rule 5 draft.
To create room on the roster, the Giants officially conceded what already had become obvious: that All-Star second baseman Joe Panik won’t play again this season. The club transferred Panik to the 60-day disabled list. The Giants also recalled Cuban outfielder Daniel Carbonell and designated him for assignment.
There are a few interesting facets to these moves. Let’s begin with Panik, whose first full season was a smashing success before lower back inflammation sent him to the disabled list on Aug. 1. He hit two doubles and a homer last week in a brief return before the back flared up again.
Panik had a battery of tests earlier this week as a precaution, just to make sure the nature of his back condition hadn’t changed. The club continues to describe the injury as inflammation, and although that might not be telling the whole story, head athletic trainer Dave Groeschner said there isn’t a structural issue that will require surgery.
What makes the Giants confident that Panik will be able to push past this back issue and it won’t linger next season?
“After reviewing everything, and the fact he got better over a short course of rest and treatment, everybody is confident that if we lengthen that recovery time, it’ll resolve itself,” Groeschner said. “We’ve got time to strengthen him and get him in condition so he can deal with the rigors of his job and be 100 percent strong. Any time you get injured, you lose strength in certain areas. A couple months of rest and a couple months of rehab and we’ll get him back in baseball shape and ready for spring training.”
Said Giants manager Bruce Bochy: “It’s being cautious with a guy we think a lot of – a guy who we think will have a bright future.”
Panik, who turns 25 on Oct. 30, hit .312/.378/.455 in 100 games, committed just two errors and was emerging as a Gold Glove second baseman. For a good chunk of the season, he was on pace for 200 hits.
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It should be a good experience for Williamson to get a taste of major league life here, since he’s likely to play a role with the Giants at some point in 2016. The 25-year-old missed most of last year because of Tommy John surgery and had a nice bounce-back season, hitting .293/.366/.429 in 69 games at Double-A Richmond – terrific production in a pitcher’s league – and then socking eight homers in just 189 at-bats over 54 games for Triple-A Sacramento.
Williamson hit two homers in the River Cats’ season finale Sept. 7 and had gone home to North Carolina. He was fishing offshore in the Atlantic when he got the call.
“He wasn’t just fishing. He was 55 miles off shore,” Bochy said. “And he didn’t catch a fish. That’s a long way to go. I could take him 10 feet off shore and catch something good.”
Brown was an occasional catcher at UCLA, playing mostly first base, but the Giants think a lot of his receiving skills now that he’s playing the position full time. Both Brown and Williamson will be used off the bench, Bochy said.
As for Carbonell, he signed a four-year, $1.4 million contract as an athletic prospect with a questionable bat. The bat showed even more promise last year, but he really struggled this season while getting demoted from Richmond to San Jose.
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No Brandon Crawford, although he could pinch hit and remains a good bet to return to the lineup Friday. As for Brandon Belt, his neck is sore after a collision on the bases Tuesday night but he is starting at first base. Concern over Belt was a contributing factor to put the roster wheels in motion and add two new players. He’ll be watched carefully, Bochy said.
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The most interesting baseball news in the bay concerns the A’s decision to add Barry Zito to the roster. It does appear that both the Giants and A’s are amenable to Zito and Tim Hudson, his former Oakland rotation mate, both pitching Sept. 26 at the Coliseum.
But Hudson is dealing with hip soreness, so it’s not a sure bet he’ll be able to start, or even throw an inning in relief. He will if he’s able.
“It’d be a nice moment,” Bochy said. “I’m not sure if it can happen. I’ve gotten a few texts about it. One of them said let them face each other with no DH.
You’ve got to do what’s right. If it works out, that’d be great.
“I’m happy for Barry, I really am. It’s a great story. It’s playing the game because you love it. He had to go to Triple-A and travel on those tough trips, those bus rides. He didn’t have to, but he loves baseball and still has it in his blood, and wanted to give it one more shot. He wanted to see if he had the stuff to do it, and here he is in the big leagues. It’ll be a pretty cool moment to see he and Huddy together.”
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Lineups:
CF Pagan, LF De Aza, 3B Duffy, C Posey, 1B Belt, RF Byrd, 2B Tomlinson, SS Adrianza, P Peavy.
CF Bourgeois, RF Bruce, 1B Votto, 2B Phillips, 3B Frazier, C Cabrera, SS Suarez, LF Schumaker, P Lorenzen.
The post Giants notes: Joe Panik will have a regimented winter of rehab work, Giants call up Mac Williamson and Trevor Brown, Daniel Carbonell DFAd; Bruce Bochy hopes to set up Zito-Hudson game appeared first on Giants Extra.