Giants third baseman Evan Longoria exited their win over the Angels on Monday with soreness in his right side. Longoria will undergo an MRI on Tuesday, though he’s hopeful that he isn’t dealing with a serious injury, Maria Guardado of MLB.com tweets.
The Giants entered 2021 mired in a four-year playoff drought, while Longoria has struggled of late in his own right, but the two have come alive again. San Francisco is 34-20, a half-game up in the National League West race, and Longoria has been one of its top contributors. The 35-year-old, formerly a standout with Tampa Bay, saw his numbers drop precipitously over the past few seasons, but the three-time All-Star has looked more like his younger self in 2021. He went 2-for-2 with a home run on Monday, raising his line to an outstanding .274/.360/.510 (140 wRC+) with nine homers in 178 plate appearances this season. Longoria’s success doesn’t seem to be a fluke, either, as he ranks near the top of the majors in most relevant Statcast categories.
San Francisco, which replaced Longoria with Mauricio Dubon on Monday, can only hope he will avoid a stint on the injured list. The Giants already have a few infielders on the IL in first basemen Brandon Belt and Darin Ruf and second baseman Tommy La Stella, the latter of whom won’t return until at least July.
Oblique strain… out 3-6 weeks.. yaddayadda..
Where’s Keanu Reeves? Gene Hackman? We can get a replacement team to the playoffs!
Thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery.
Thoughts and Prayers…an excellent Jeselnik special a funny Demetri Martin bit.
And* a
Giants do this with every player, better safe than sorry especially when you’re 14 over .500. Hopefully it’s similar to Yaz’s side soreness where he only sat out for a week.
A test of the surprising depth Zaidi has built. That should get them through the next 20 games of the schedule which, as schedules go, really isn’t that bad. Screw the rivalry, an impressive job by this likable team. I’m, having a hard time rooting against them. They deserve a ton of credit for finding guys like LaMonte Wade Jr. to step in and contribute instantly. A 102-win pace is quite something during a “rebuilding” year. This team is going to be a royal pain in the butt for years to come. For now, all the pieces seem to fit. They pass the eye test.
Cey Hey:
Agreed. I think they will be a pain in the butt for the most part. But as much as I would love to see the Giants finish the season atop the division, I wouldn’t bet the ranch on it.
The Dodgers, have so much talent, and are also contending with injuries. Once healthy I’ll be surprised if they don’t win the division title. First place on 5/31 is nice, but I still believe a WC berth is their most realistic hope.
tad2b13, I agree the Dodgers should win. Talent-wise, they should challenge the franchise record of 106 wins. It’s too much to expect the Giants or Padres to maintain that kind of pace. The Giants deserve all the credit in the world for rebounding from a bad home series against the Dodgers to bounce back the following weekend. No rolling over in that team.
Having two of the three teams meet in a one-game WC is bad for the game. MLB needs to fix that real soon. A best-of-three is completely doable, and would only add to the drama and intensify rivalries.
We’ve hit Memorial Day, @tad2b13.
So, I am inclined to believe that teams like the baseball Giants & red sox aren’t going anywhere. They may not win the West, but I’ll be pretty surprised if they are not in the mix come September.
Hey Ducky, good evening.
I agree, but I have to admit to raising an eyebrow, when you said the Giants and R Sox weren’t going any where (like to the PS), but then I realized what you meant.
I’ve always felt that my team didn’t necessarily have to win it all, but if they can be competitive down to end, and make the season fun and exciting, then I’m okay with that. Hope springs…
Oh.
Right. I can see that.
Well, as you noted that was not my intent.
I’m with that. The NY Giants have had a run where I basically give up on the season a month or so early. On hope springing, I’ve high hopes for this football season.
But, yeah.
It’s always better to have some type of chance.
Perhaps that makes me shallow but I’m good with it.
Yea I knew Zaidi to SF would eventually create a winning product, but I’m quite impressed with how quickly that has come to pass. They were a very good looking club over the recent 4 game stand.
The Giants, as a team, are playing very good baseball. Johnny Cueto’s start was solid. Tough division…. Longoria being sidelined would hurt.
it would hurt but whenever an infield injury happens I like the idea of more exposure for vosler and more opportunity to have dubon in the lineup when he isn’t in center.
Zaidi has done a superb job getting the Giants the depth they’ve obviously needed. I thought the Giants might contend for a WC, given things falling right, but if someone told me before the season that they would be in 1st place at the end of May, I wouldn’t have believed it. Especially with so many so many key guys on the IL,
tad2b13. Thanks to the Giants, any teams in the NL East and Central that want a playoff spot had better plan on winning the division.
Something to keep in mind about the Giants’ schedule: Of their 58 games after the trade deadline, 19 are against the Rockies and Diamondbacks. By then, both of those rosters might resemble expansion teams. Taking care of business versus those two teams will short-circuit any possible swoon. Btw, the Dodgers and Padres will have 16 and 15 games remaining against those two teams.
Let’s be honest, the giants have been pretty spared from injuries thus far compared to the rest of the competing NLW and the game in general, unless I’m missing some massive injury not in their IL
Everything they’ve had minus maybe La Stella has been pretty minor
BeforeMcCourt. True. That might be a testament to them having so many veteran players who know how to properly prepare for a baseball season. Those guys might have rested their old bones while everyone else was overdoing it in the weight room. Players like Posey, Crawford, and Longoria have looked fantastic. I would otherwise expect Zaidi to do good work in enhancing the roster at the deadline. Until then, it’s a matter of extending their wildcard advantage. As of right now, the Dodgers are the second WC by a game over either the Cardinals or Cubs.
BeforeMcCourt:
You have a point, the injuries haven’t been devastating by any means, though they’re perhaps not as inconsequential as you might see them. Solano missed 27 games. And, besides LaStella, on the 60 day, both Belt and Ruf are on the IL Belt might be back soon, who knows with on oblique, but it will be weeks before Ruf returns. Dickerson, and Flores also lost time to injury, as did Yastrzemski.
Among the pitchers, Aaron Sanchez is on the IL, Cueto lost time due to injury, and Alex Wood missed the first couple of weeks of the season.
While no one is lost for the season, those injuries are to some key players. SS and CF are the only positions that haven’t been affected by injuries.
Again, I don’t want to overstate the matter, but for a team that supposedly is far behind the Dodgers and Padres in talent, the injuries they’ve had could have sunk this team without the depth they possess.
Tad,
Not trying to argue they’ve had no one hurt. Just that the majority of their injuries have been 10 days or close to that. They haven’t had a Bellinger or Seager or Dustin May level injury. As Cey Hey said, maybe their veterans prepared better for the season than others, and are reaping the rewards. Maybe
To Cey+tad: I wish injury to no one, but if they have to go a long time without Belt, or their vets hit that slump that seems more and more likely, we may get a better picture on if they’ll hang around all year. A lot of their best players are playing well ahead of how they played in the last 2 years. Just being realistic
But there’s no taking away, the giants thus far have been one of baseballs best teams. That’s Zaidi and Co flexing their ability to ID talent
I will be honest, I didn’t realize Solano was out that long. Imo it doesn’t change overall, they’ve been one of the healthiest teams in the NL Thus far
Missed my edit window, but a big unspoken here is Gausman. He’s been CYA worthy. A long time off or decline in performance of this lingers would be hard to replace
My goodness.
Mets, Dodgers, & White Sox fans on the board seem to really want to turn their clubs injuries into some kind of weird competition. My whole life I have heard, “injuries are part of the game”.
Never more true than in 2021.
We get it.
Indeed, we all have the internet.
Ergo: we are all aware of how many players **around the entire league** are hurt.
Throwing shade at another team’s perceived “better” health just strikes me as unseemly. The Giants are in first place because they have played better than their competition. The End.
BeforeMcCourt:
I’m not trying to argue either. I did admit that you had a valid point. And I guess I was less than clear about mine. You’re right, the Giants haven’t had a Bellinger, Seager, or May type injury. But given the talent levels of both teams, had the Giants sustained that level of injury they would probably be out of it. The Dodgers talent allows them to be able to stay in the race despite that level of injury.
The injuries the Giants have had, would have had much less impact on the Dodgers. Just because the Giants injuries aren’t as bad, doesn’t mean they’re not difficult for a team with the talent level of the Giants..
Fans talk about injuries every year, this year more than ever. You just said so. Yet Looking at severity of injuries to a roster as a whole is somehow unseemly? Hahahaha okay Ducky. Seems like you’re finding a reason to come at me for whatever reason regarding something that’s happening in literally every divisional discussion in the game currently
Do I really need to go find comments from you about how bad the Yankee injuries have been? We both know they’re plentiful
It’s part of the game. Yep. So it’s part of the discussion. And if you didn’t notice, Tad agreed that If the giants had even one of the 3 injuries I mentioned above, they’d be out of the race. La has dealt with all 3 and many more
SF has an old roster. There’s no bias saying that. If you really expect that entire vet group to stay healthy, you’re more gullible than I took you for. Depth for the giants beyond their starting lineup has been a question for SF since before Zaidi. It’s fair to wonder how it would deal with the veterans coming back to earth or worse, not playing
Yet, through all your bickering, you fail to acknowledge I had the same conclusion you just tried to lecture me on. I openly said the giants have been one of the best teams in MLB. Thanks for nothing
@tad, truly not trying to negate the injuries SF has. All I did was glance at their current IL, and aside from La Stella I didn’t see any difference makers missing major time. That’s all I was saying originally. You pointed out Solano missing a month but he’s back now, and i acknowledged I missed him
Overall you guys have had a top 1-3 record in mlb for more than a couple weeks. Clearly, you guys have dealt with what’s happened.
There wasn’t any malice behind my words, just observing
Actually, you won’t find anything like that, @McCourt.
The most you will ever get out of me is a, “well that sucks”. I’ve always been – & remain! – a suck it up buttercup kinda fella.
& if there is one fan base in MLB that is preconditioned to roll with the punches of team injuries it would be the Yanks.
We seem to go through this every year (hahahaha?).
Rather, I’m pointing out the whole “my team has it sooooo much worse than yours” thing.
You are hardly the leader when it comes to that, btw. As I’m sure you know, the games are not played on paper (another thing Yankee fans are well aware of). Had the Dodgers had perfect health, that still wouldn’t guarantee a better record.
Have good day, bro.
That’s sorta the point of this roster, though. They absorb injuries better because they are a deeper team. They don’t have any bellinger Esque “superstars” just 40 contributors. So when you see their IL list, it’s easy to say “oh it’s just Dickerson or just Solano or LaStella” but in reality those are big cogs for the team. I’d argue they’ve been hit with the injury bug as much as any team.
I’d like to add one thing to this conversation, and that’s that a lot of the Giants’ injuries are overlapping. Their top four first base options were Belt, La Stella, Ruf, Flores, and all four were on the IL simultaneously last week, which is why people are talking about the emergence of Lamonte Wade Jr. in the first place. It’s kinda crazy that the fifth member of the depth chart at 1B is seeing play and still giving the team excellent production.
These have been the streaks of the dodgers thus far
13-2 then 5-15 then 14-5
Hmm, I wonder when the injuries were most substantial throughout the roster.
That wasn’t what I said originally nor was it my point, and I’m only bringing it up because of you Ducky. But the “they wouldn’t guaranteed to be better healthy” is pretty laughable when you look at the dodgers season
I’ve also been very very vocal that LAD or any other team doesn’t deserve any more of a pass than any other team because of their injuries. A true champ wins thru the injuries, or is good enough healthy to make up for it.
Real interesting place for a lecture. You can’t even finish your comment without saying “it’s not really you, but I’m gonna spout off at you”
You don’t need to police the boards dude. You’re a troll here when you want to be too. Heck, you’ve been that troll calling this team overrated and their title illegitimate…
Ah.
So now we are really down to it.
You remain miffed because I – like the vast majority of MLB fans – had the audacity to question the legitimacy of a “title” based on a 60 game season. Never called them “overrated”. Generally, have praise for them.
That doesn’t make me a “troll”.
In fact, it doesn’t even make me unique. It’s an extremely common take.
But you go on & tell everyone how “bad” the Dodgers have it & let the Giants fans know how their health problems pale in comparison to yours, bud.
Whatever gets you through the night, bud.
Jason Vosler will be called up again if Longo goes down, no biggie.
Team is trash and playing over their heads.
Wrong
And here comes the trolling ! The team is in 1st places on June 1st and while it’s highly unlikely they win the division. They will definitely be in the WC race until the end. Not bad for a team that is trash.
Don’t listen to McCourt is the best owner. He is troll.
49ers and Warriors have been injured last 2 season. We would have easily won the NBA championship last year if Klay and Curry were both healthy. They played in the bubble for NBA championship. No home court seeding didn’t matter. GSW easily would have walked home with championship. We ain’t complaining that’s how sports are.
49ers would have won the SB last year if they were healthy. 49ers going SB this year with a healthy squad.
Go Giants! Keep it up!
Don’t give me that injury BS.
You forget one thing being healthy doesn’t mean you are going to win it all.
Estrada deserves a call-up from AAA. Has been raking all season.
Soon as he is healthy and hits the field, Now would be a good time to Trade him and his Contract while he is playing decent ball. Get out of that Contract, bring up Vossler and call it good.
What contract? It’s not like Longoria is making a ton.
$15m per season through 2024, for someone who sits on the IR a lrg portion of every season !!
KHE, this isn’t a fantasy league where you dump the hot guy before it’s too late. It’s real baseball played by real people. For all the statistics people focus on, it’s a game played by real people who spend seven months living and traveling together. The human element is critical.
Longoria is a vital cog to the Giants both on and off the field. It would be unwise to trade him. Thankfully for the Giants and their fans, Zaidi is a sharp executive who would never make such a dumb move. He sees all the same data as everyone else. The difference is in how he interprets it. It seems that he considers the human element when bringing in players, which includes work ethic and character. It was controversial in the eyes of some people, but he got rid of Coonrod because the guy obviously didn’t fit into the team’s clubhouse culture. Smart move.
Would like to see the Giants sell high on Duggar and bring up Ramos. Would also love to see the Giants make run at a trade with the Cubbies for Bryant, if he’s really available. Seems like a good fit to me and a good investment for the Giants if they could sign him long term. If the Giants can maintain a high level of play for the season, they may be able to attract higher-end hitters instead just being the bride’s maid for blue chip FA’s
Why do people keep suggesting the Cubs trade Bryant? Do they not pay attention to the standings?
I get your point Cey and agree that the Cubs have value in Bryant, but my suggestion was that the Giants try to acquire Bryant, not that the Cubs should trade him – two different perspectives.
All I’m gonna say is in response to someone saying the giants would struggle with a significant injury in the starting lineup. Ive watched every game this year. What is their starting lineup? It changes from day to day. To be honest, the contributors that carried last year havent even gotten the bats going yet. Flores, yaz, grandpa, and solano are all just getting into a groove.
Big glove502, Fans spend so much time pouring over statistics that they sometimes forget baseball is a team game. All of the parts must fit and complement one another. On paper, the ’88 Dodgers weren’t any better than the ’86 and ’87 teams that both lost 89 games. Yet they won due to the chemistry change brought forth by Kirk Gibson, a true MVP despite putting up numbers that some fans insisted weren’t MVP-worthy.
I’ve watched the Giants plenty and am and convinced they’re for real. They have a bunch of guys who make meaningful contributions without trying to do more than they’re individually capable of. The level of trust in that clubhouse must be off the charts. They have incorporated modern data into their roster construction without losing sight of the human element.
Another key aspect of the team is having a manager who’s willing to listen to his players. When guys complained about Kapler’s early hook for starting pitchers in 2020, he changed his ways. Now, the Giants’ SPs consistently go deep into games, which has made the bullpen stronger. Kapler is growing into a solid big-leaguer manager. Give Zaidi credit for snapping him up so quickly after being let go by the Phillies, because you can bet no one else would have done so. He had a previous working relationship with Kapler and knew it would work.
Rivalry aside, I enjoy watching good baseball. While I want the Dodgers to win, it’s a pleasure watching what the Giants and Padres are doing on the field. In 2021, there are only a handful of teams that give me that level of satisfaction as a fan. I think the Dodgers will win the division but will have to play really good baseball to do so. It should be a fun season watching those three teams battle it out.