Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
Winning cures a lot of things, but not injuries.
The Giants are a banged-up bunch, with Brandon Crawford the newest re-addition to the walking wounded. The shortstop exited Wednesday’s game early and came off the bench Thursday with a rib cage issue that he believed to be past as he played Friday.
A day later, the Giants scratched Crawford, this time with “some right quad tightness,” less than two hours before first pitch against the Marlins in San Francisco.
Mauricio Dubon was shifted from center field to shortstop, where he will play alongside Wilmer Flores at third. Evan Longoria was set to miss a second straight game after he had been pulled early Thursday with hamstring tightness that Gabe Kapler has not shed a ton of light on.
“We expect [Longoria] to be day to day for a bit,” the manager said Saturday over Zoom before the Crawford development.
Meanwhile, Donovan Solano is on the injured list with a calf strain and Brandon Belt had missed time this week with a quad issue, though he is back in the starting lineup. The Giants, even at 13-7, are a depleted group and had an extra glove on hand in case he is needed.
Jason Vosler, mostly a corner infielder, was at Oracle Park and taking ground balls at third during warmups. He is on the 40-man roster, so he would be a clear call-up option should the Giants need to move Longoria to the IL. If Crawford is lost, though, the more likely summon would be Thairo Estrada, an infielder who can handle shortstop. Behind Crawford on the 26-man roster is Dubon and Dubon alone.
Apart from a wayward throw from Flores in Friday’s ninth inning, the Giants have managed just fine through the injuries thus far. Dubon has played a solid shortstop (and second base), Tommy La Stella is passable at second and Flores has played a better hot corner than he had last year.
Against Miami righty Pablo Lopez, the righty-hitting Flores was the No. 3 hitter in a lineup that values platoon advantage highly. And yet, Flores hit righties well last year and in this season’s short, 23-plate-appearance sample size, has fared well against righties (.316/.391/.579).
Kapler pointed to not just his 2020 numbers but Flores’ expected 2020 numbers, which showed his at-bats against righties were impressive.
“This is also the eye test and the visual and the scouting look at him, which is he just looks great in the batter’s box against righties and lefties,” Kapler said of Flores, who went 2-for-4, with a long out at the left-field wall, against Miami righties Friday. “He’s able to get the ball in the air consistently. Got up underneath a really firm sinker last night.”
Flores playing a steadier third and being an option against pitchers of all kinds is helpful for a team suddenly lacking at third. Vosler is literally close by, and Estrada might have to be, too.
The Giants’ lineup:
1. Tommy La Stella, 2B
2. Mike Yastrzemski, RF
3. Wilmer Flores, 3B
4. Brandon Belt, 1B
5. Alex Dickerson, LF
6. Buster Posey, C
7. Austin Slater, CF
8. Mauricio Dubon, SS
9. Kevin Gausman, RHP
Reyes Moronta, who is eligible to be activated from the 10-day IL whenever he is ready, is close. Kapler said he is “progressing well” and was set to throw a side session Saturday in which he was expecting to throw all of his pitches.
Kapler had less information to offer on Johnny Cueto, of whom the Giants do not have a timetable but may miss more than the two starts they thought.
“He continues to report feeling good and is continuing his throwing program,” Kapler said.
Miami GM Kim Ng, the first woman general manager in MLB, was on the field before the game talking with Giants GM Scott Harris.
Giants first-base coach Antoan Richardson talked for a long while with young Marlins standout Jazz Chisholm. Both are among the small group of players to make the majors from the Bahamas.
Awful picture, but Antoan Richardson and Jazz Chisholm making the Bahamas proud pic.twitter.com/D0MatJDDNv
— Mark W. Sanchez (@MarkWSanchez) April 24, 2021