Giants right fielder Hunter Pence left tonight’s game after re-aggravating a hamstring injury that plagued him for much of the past two weeks, and he’s headed for an MRI in the morning, writes Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. The extent of the injury won’t be known until tomorrow morning, but Pence was unable to even finish running to first base on a grounder to third base in the fourth inning. Pence is hitting .298/.375/.486 with seven homers in 208 trips to the plate this season, and any prolonged absence for him would be a tough pill for San Francisco to swallow. Were he to require a stint on the disabled list, he’d end up alongside fellow outfielder Angel Pagan, who is on the DL with the same injury. Jarrett Parker is already on the roster due to Pagan’s injury, and Mac Williamson is an obvious candidate to come up and fill Pence’s 25-man roster spot if necessary.
A few more notes from around the game…
- The Red Sox optioned right-hander Joe Kelly to Triple-A following a brutal start against the Orioles on Wednesday. Kelly last just 2 2/3 innings and was tagged for seven earned runs on seven hits and three walks with just one strikeout. That difficult outing and an 8.46 ERA notwithstanding, Kelly was caught off-guard by the move, writes Tim Britton of the Providence Journal. “Obviously I didn’t see it coming,” the right-hander said. “I’m just going to go down there and try to continue to get better at commanding the baseball…. I’ve got to try to get my mechanics right and get that fastball command where it was a couple starts ago and to where it needs to be.” Manager John Farrell said that Kelly is “blessed with a golden arm and tremendous stuff” but lacks execution on his pitches. As Britton points out, Clay Buchholz struggled in relief on Wednesday, while Henry Owens, Sean O’Sullivan and Roenis Elias all have their own red flags about them. For the time being, Noe Ramirez is taking Kelly’s roster spot. Boston can skip the fifth spot in its rotation entirely the next time it comes up due to an off day on the schedule.
- Jurickson Profar has been impressive while filling in for the suspended Rougned Odor, but Rangers manager Jeff Banister cast some doubt on whether he’ll remain with the club following Odor’s activation on June 4, as Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes. “In Jurickson’s case, I think the concern and need with him is the everyday process,” said Banister. “When you haven’t played every day for two years, getting the body back up to speed to play every day and continue to play every day, we need to make sure we monitor that.” Banister said that four games a week would be enough to keep Profar on the big league roster, but as Wilson writes, Texas isn’t keen on putting him in the outfield or at third base, and getting him four starts per week between the two middle infield positions and at DH could be tough. Profar went 2-for-5 with a double tonight and is hitting .357 since his recall from Triple-A.
- Sonny Gray’s target date for a return to the Athletics’ rotation is June 10, writes Joe Stiglich of CSNBayArea.com. Gray is slated for a bullpen session Thursday and a rehab start on Saturday at Class-A Stockton, and assuming all goes well, his stay on the disabled list will be a fairly abbreviated one. Gray hit the DL back on May 22 with a strained trapezius muscle, and the A’s are undoubtedly hoping that some time off will help him return to form; Gray has logged a dismal 6.19 ERA this season while displaying the worst control of his career, averaging 4.5 walks per nine innings and unloading a league-high nine wild pitches through his first 48 innings of work.
Dear Lord,
Please let Hunter Pence’s hamstring injury be insignificant, for the Giants can ill afford yet another casualty to their lineup.
In Jesus’ name we pray,
Amen.
Also, if you could look the other way on last weekends shortcomings that’d be dope.
Cheers, All Mighty. Go Giants.
‘The prophesy has hence been declared that thou art in an even year. Keep thy pants on, for it is only June’
Thou hast delivered hope to myself, I thank you, thine neighbor.
Wouldn’t it be thyself
I don’t know man, I failing a significant portion of school.
By the way Mr. Adams, you’re the man. Keep doing your thing bro, I enjoy your content.
Any chance the Rangers would explore trading Profar to fill another need? As a Phillies fan, I’d be highly interested, but have no idea what the Rangers current needs are.
Either way, Profar is a player I find myself easily rooting for. With the injuries he’s overcome so far early in his career, I can only hope he finds good health and rewards himself and the Rangers organization for the patience they’ve shown.
Salary relief honestly.
The rangers would hop on a Fielder + Profar for *insert bullpen arm here*
Normally I’d have no problem eating a bad contract since the Phillies have very little money on the books starting next year, but after looking at Fielder and Choo’s contracts I’d have to pass. Man, 4 years left on each after this year is ridiculous. I have no idea what the Rangers are going to do with them if they don’t start producing.
Their needs are catcher (good avg, hitting and defense. Maybe sorting out the Moreland/Fielder issue at first and pitching. Gallo will replace Beltre one day.
Honestly I know they were talking with the Brewers about Lucroy to be the full time catcher.
And tlharty is right, salary relief would be nice. A lot is being paid to Fielder and Choo for them to not play much.
I see the makings of another Buchholz in Kelly. Hes got electric stuff when he can get it to work, but otherwise hes terribly inconsistent. They need to look into a new arm via trade, use Buchholz as little as possible, and leave Kelly in Pawtucket as long as they can.
How can you have a 8.76 ERA and not see a demotion headed your way?? That type of mindset hinders player development because the player has had everything handed to him and has never had to face any type of adversity. He needs to wake up and smell the coffee.
Maybe he thought they were going to move him to the bullpen where he belongs.
Maybe he was only looking at his FIP and WAR, cuz ya know ERA is an outdated stat.
(Just know someone will take this seriously!)
I really dont want to see him in the bullpen either till he masters his control. He walks a lot of batters and thats not what you want from a guy in the later innings.