Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
The official designation is right knee inflammation, but Brandon Belt’s knee injury may be as serious as it looked when he crumpled to the ground behind home plate at Angel Stadium on Wednesday.
The Giants moved the first baseman to the 10-day injured list before Friday’s game, and Gabe Kapler said there are “concerns” surgery could be required on the same knee that was surgically repaired at the end of his 2018 season.
“He’s disappointed. I think he understands that this is probably not a 10-day injury, and he understands there’s a rehab process here,” Kapler said before the Giants and A’s opened their series at Oracle Park. “And I imagine that’s difficult. Saw him coming into the ballpark yesterday — I was at the ballpark yesterday and he was coming in — he wasn’t moving around great.”
In the finale of the Angels series, Belt went first to third on a single to right field and slowed down without a slide as the ball skittered away from third base. Belt then accelerated home, where he was tagged out and clearly hobbled. He tried to make it back to the dugout but went down on the way and lay on the ground for several moments as trainers attended to him.
Belt was replaced by Darin Ruf, who will see plenty of time at first in addition to LaMonte Wade Jr., who was recalled Friday after a couple days in Sacramento.
Kapler, who had talked with trainer Dave Groeschner before addressing media, said they are “still in the exploration process” with Belt, whose .875 OPS is the best of his career outside of the shortened season last year. He has been as valuable as ever defensively at first base, and as much as the Giants have adopted the next-man-up philosophy, they are a much better team with Belt.
“I think that he also understands that it’s important to keep the mindset that he’s going to help us a lot this season,” Kapler said of Belt, who has played with injury after injury, including offseason heel surgery and spring training bouts with both the coronavirus and mono.