Buster Posey. Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
The Giants look a lot more whole.
Buster Posey was reinstated from the injured list Wednesday, batting cleanup in the second and last game of the midweek series against the Padres at Oracle Park.
The catcher spent the minimum 10 days on the IL with a right hamstring strain, his second time being shelved in as many months. A concussion had set him back in May.
“Ready to go,” manager Bruce Bochy announced before the game. “He’s all set.”
Brandon Belt was batting second and playing first base, his first start since Saturday. Originally a stomach illness had sidelined him, the Giants said, before he tried to pinch-hit Sunday and have his neck “lock up on him.”
Belt pinch-hit Tuesday and walked, coming around to score the game-tying run in a 6-5 win.
“We checked on him early today and he’s good to go,” Bochy said.
Heliot Ramos, the team’s second-best prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, is forcing the Giants to take notice.
Just 19, the center fielder is slashing .315/.422/.613 with eight home runs in 32 games with High-A San Jose.
“We got a chance to see him this spring,” Bochy said. “He’s got some huge potential obviously. … This guy can do some damage.”
Asked if there were a chance of the Giants fast-tracking him in a league in which that happens more and more, Bochy passed.
“That’s a conversation you’d have to have with Farhan [Zaidi],” he said.
Ramos and other prospects will be promoted “once [front-office members] think they’re ready for the next step.”
