SAN FRANCISCO — Joe Panik has slowly progressed in his recovery since tearing a ligament on his left thumb on April 28 after trying to tag Yasiel Puig in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Prior to Friday’s game at AT&T Park against the Philadelphia Phillies, Bruce Bochy made it official:
“Joe Panik has rejoined the club playing second base,” Bochy said. “It’s good to have one of your guys back. He was leading off for us before he left, and it’s always good to get those guys back.”
In a corresponding roster move, Kelby Tomlinson has been optioned to Single-A San Jose to make room for Panik on the 25-man roster. Tomlinson had been struggling since replacing Alen Hanson as the Giants’ backup second baseman, hitting just .226 with an OPS of just .557. Panik, meanwhile, had been enjoying a resurgent 2018 season prior to tearing his ligament.
Elsewhere on the roster, Hunter Pence is expected to return Saturday as the team’s fourth outfielder. Mark Melancon is ready to be activated as well, but another roster move needs to be made first to clear a spot for him on the team’s 40-man roster. Bochy said the club was still exploring its options with regard to which move to make.
The most novel news to come out of the flurry of roster changes was that Pablo Sandoval took ground balls at shortstop in preparation for potentially backing up Brandon Crawford should Crawford become injured, need a day off or otherwise need to leave a game. Bochy also mentioned Panik as a possibility at short, while noting that Hanson has played some short during his rehab assignment with San Jose.
Pablo will be taking grounders pregame as backup shortstop after the #sfgiants sent down Tomlinson pic.twitter.com/KTOmaWTczl
— KNBR (@KNBR) June 2, 2018
Bochy also noted that Dereck Rodriguez will make his first MLB start Sunday against the Phillies, with Ty Blach moving to the bullpen to become the team’s long reliever.
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