The Giants have placed right fielder Hunter Pence on the disabled list with a strained right hamstring, manager Bruce Bochy told reporters prior to today’s game (via Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle). Pence missed about a week late last month due to a balky hamstring but returned to the lineup over the weekend. However, he came up lame in an attempt to run out a grounder last night and was unable to even finish running to first base. He underwent an MRI this morning, after which Bochy told the media: “Unfortunately, he did a pretty good job on it. That’s a shame.” In other words, Schulman notes, Pence is dealing with a severe strain, which almost certainly rules out a speedy return to the lineup. Surgery has not yet been discussed, though Pence’s MRI still needs to be reviewed by team physician Kenneth Akizuki.
For the time being, the Giants have recalled outfielder Mac Williamson to take Pence’s place on the roster. The 25-year-old Williamson is currently sporting a fairly robust .287/.316/.503 batting line with Triple-A Sacramento, though it’s unreasonable to ask him to fill Pence’s shoes from a production standpoint at the big league level. Pence is currently batting .298/.375/.486 with seven homers on the season, but he’ll now join the Giants’ other corner outfielder, Angel Pagan, on the disabled list with a similar injury. That leaves the NL-West-leading Giants with an outfield mix of Denard Span, Gregor Blanco and the inexperienced duo of Williamson and Jarrett Parker. Brandon Belt could potentially see some time in left field as well; he’s logged just one inning there this season but played 96 innings out there in 2015 and has 355 big league innings at the position.
While there’s no definitive timetable on Pence’s absence, a prolonged stint on the disabled list would invite trade speculation. Pagan is said to be coming along nicely in his rehab and could return to the club sometime next week, Schulman notes, which could lessen the immediate need for some outfield help. However, Pagan doesn’t provide the same offensive skill set, despite a solid .275/.338/.383 batting line at the time of his most recent injury, and he’s also been very prone to injury over the past four seasons with San Francisco. It’s early in the summer still, but MLBTR’s Jeff Todd did recently compile a list of 10 of the game’s likeliest trade candidates while also mentioning several others to monitor as the deadline approaches.
“Did a pretty good job on the injury” – does that mean he did a good job of causing significant damage to his hamstring?
That’s Bochy’s implication, yeah. Weird phrasing, but the point he’s conveying is that it’s a severe strain.
Alright. I couldn’t tell if he meant that. Or if he was trying to say that he’d done a good job of managing to play through it thus far.
Keep him out until it heals. Pedroia pulled his really bad just before the AS break last year, sat out bit over 3 weeks, then tried to come back to early and pulled it again and missed the rest of the season and nobody discussed surgery with him as required.
SF is going to need Pence later on.. Even if it takes 30+ days.. MAKE him take the time off.
…Waits for braves fans trying to trade Markakis to the giants….
I can vouch for that…
As a Braves fan, I could see a match of Markakis and cash for Susac but I feel the Giants would do better by going after Bruce.
I don’t see bruce being a real target, it is a lot of money for a guy that doesn’t fill the defensive shoes that pence provides, and AT&T is a place that eats up thump which makes bruce not a real target. Braun would be more of a fit but the PED thing will keep him away since the FO tries to steer clear of anything close to PEDs since bonds.
Good point about PEDs, because I was thinking that Braun might be the best target for the Giants in terms of both fit and upgrade. I’m not a Giants fan but I can understand if they decided that they don’t want to deal with any PR backlash from trading for Braun, especially now that the suspension of Byrd has brought that issue back into prominence.
They traded for Marlon Byrd last August and were reportedly open to re-signing Melky following his suspension. I’m sure for the right price, they’d be open to adding Braun. Tough to imagine them just issuing a hard “no” to the idea given the caliber of his bat and their current slate of outfielders.
ya, they don’t care about ped rumors.
Markakis and Bruce are both LH hitters. The Giants outfield, and the rest of their lineup in general, is very lefty-heavy. If they trade for anyone, it should be a right-handed bat. Can’t see them splashing out for Braun, though.
I was being sarcastic. Markakis is bad.
Time for Michael Morse 2.0?
Hate to see that. He means so much to the Giants. Get well soon.