The Giants announced they’ve reinstated Mitch Haniger from the 60-day injured list. Heliot Ramos was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento in a corresponding move. To clear space on the 40-man roster, San Francisco designated outfielder Bryce Johnson for assignment.
Haniger returns two and a half months after breaking his arm. An errant Jack Flaherty pitch resulted in a right forearm fracture that required surgery. It was another unfortunate break for Haniger, whose career has been littered with stops and starts (often on account of rather fluky injuries of that nature). He’d also begun the season on the shelf after suffering a Spring Training oblique strain. He has appeared in 40 games to this point in his first year as a Giant, hitting .230/.281/.372 over 160 plate appearances.
Slow start notwithstanding, his return is welcome for a San Francisco offense that has struggled of late. Haniger had been an above-average hitter throughout his time with the Mariners. He steps right into a tight race for a Wild Card spot, with SF half a game back of Arizona for the National League’s last spot. Haniger is hitting cleanup tonight and playing left field against Cincinnati southpaw Brandon Williamson.
Johnson, 27, will go on waivers in the next couple days. The switch-hitting outfielder has played in 41 games for the Giants over the last two seasons, hitting .148/.209/.213 through 67 plate appearances. He’s a good athlete and regarded as a quality defender who can cover all three positions on the grass, however.
The Sam Houston State product has hit .284/.360/.471 with 14 stolen bases in 50 Triple-A contests this year. He’s midway through his second minor league option season, so any claiming team could keep him in the minors for the foreseeable future. Johnson went unclaimed on waivers at the start of last offseason, so he’d have the right to test free agency if he clears again.
fre5hwind
Good time for Haniger to come back, especially when the WC is heating up hotter than my grill
Curly Was The Smart Stooge
What’s on your grill? Dogs today, a definite beef tomorrow set on a hot bed of Canadian forest fires!
mlb1225
For a second I thought the Giants put Hanniger on waivers lol.
trussell
Me, too!
KirkRueter
Let’s go!!! Yaz to follow soon I hope.
agnes gooch
It’s going to get crazy KirkRueter! Haniger, Yaz, Brebbia, Crawford all due back! I’m having fun watching the kids, I especially hope Meckler stays up! Love the kid!
foppert1
Hey Agnes. Loving the Meckler !!!
My kind of guy.
Harrison went alright.
agnes gooch
Energy is flowing now foppert! I like the vibes!
gfan
God I hope Mitch can get hot and provide some consistent offense.
I’m not giving up on a wild card entry to the playoffs. The fat lady ain’t singing yet,I’m putting her on a diet, and removing her vocal chords. Let’s go Mitch !
dubtastic
I’m gonna go on record and eat crow..Kyle Harrison is mlb ready and research is overrated! Go Giants!!!
gfan
Dude.
I was going to say
What happened to all the Kyle ain’t ready crowd. Crow is all right just put ketchup on it ..
dubtastic
I was at the game yesterday and as each inning past w/Harrison dominating, I was thinking about how I said ‘he wasn’t ready’ smh lol
foppert1
How about that. That was something to see.
The way the whole crew of rookie pitchers has performed has been outstanding. Giants definitely saved the best till last though.
gfan
Harrison & Beck should be in the rotation constantly. Ramp em up, get em ready for next season. I’m iffy on Hjelle…
Walker looks great with that Romoish slider though!
gfan
Cobb was filthy tonight.
If Hjelle was playing right field he would have had a no no.
agnes gooch
Hjelle, Ramos, Bart, Matos…all picks by the Sabean Evans front office and the only one that might stay is Matos and that’s not for sure?
Harrison, Bailey, Walker, Schmitt, Meckler all Zaidi finds. Time will tell but so far that last group has more staying power
Not a clever name
Agnes, don’t forget Lucious Fox. Not the Batman character. On second thought go ahead and forget him, he turned out to be very forgettable.
afsooner02
Hennigans! Great scotch! “The no smell, no tell scotch.”
“H E double N I”
FullMontilla
Love me some Kramer!!
EBJ
Hanniger was 1-for-17 rehabbing at Sacramento. Don’t expect much from him.
Poolhalljunkies
The good thing is he didnt really strike out at all.
Jean Matrac
You’re going to try and read something into 17 ABs? And sometimes rehab is about seeing a bunch of pitches, and not offering at the first one that looks good.
davemlaw
Wow! Sure glad Giants hung onto Pollock.
Seriously, Johnson should not have been the odd man out. Just his defense alone should have saved him. Guy made highlight reel plays on a daily basis in Sacramento.
foppert1
Fair point.
Jean Matrac
There’s a good chance Johnson will go unclaimed, whereas Pollock would definitely be. Zaidi is taking the reasonable gamble to keep both.
FullMontilla
ya think? No one but the G’s and Mrs. Johnson is interested in Johnson
ballgawd
Good luck Mitchy!
Datashark
Heliot is about to reach end of the line with the giants.
Meckler passed him up, its hard to believe that heliot was once ranked in top 100.
5TUNT1N
Yup I’m fine if he loses his roster spot at this point. Good luck to him!
FullMontilla
I agree – Ramos doesn’t show much in the way of being any kind of threat. He just looks like an average outfielder with marginal bat skills. The Giants have invested 6 years of development time in him, he’ll be 24 in September and he’s got one more option year in 2024. The time is now for him