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Giants Claim Dom Nunez, Select Isan Diaz

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The Giants announced they’ve claimed catcher Dom Nuñez off waivers from the Rockies. San Francisco also selected infielder Isan Díaz onto their 40-man roster. The Giants announced that infielders Ford Proctor and Taylor Jones, outfielders Bryce Johnson and Austin Dean, and right-hander Zack Littell all went unclaimed on waivers.

Nuñez changes organizations for the first time in his career. The left-handed hitting backstop entered pro ball as a sixth-round draftee of Colorado back in 2013. Nuñez made his MLB debut in 2019 and has appeared in three of the last four seasons, mostly as a depth player. He has appeared in 111 big league games, tallying 347 plate appearances of .180/.280/.373 hitting. Nuñez has walked in an excellent 12.4% of his plate appearances but struck out at an untenable 34% rate in the majors.

The 27-year-old has one minor league option year remaining. If he holds his spot on the Giants 40-man roster all winter, they can freely bounce him between San Francisco and Triple-A Sacramento next season. An Elk Grove native, Nuñez has a .240/.336/.400 line in parts of eight minor league seasons. He joins Joey Bart and Austin Wynns as catchers on the 40-man roster.

Díaz is a former top prospect who went to the Marlins in the Christian Yelich trade. He hit only .185/.275/.287 over 500 trips to the plate from 2019-21. Miami outrighted the switch-hitting second baseman off the 40-man roster in March, and he cleared waivers at the time. The Giants acquired him for cash not long after and assigned him to Sacramento for the 2022 campaign.

The 26-year-old connected on 23 longballs in 83 Triple-A games this year. He posted an excellent .275/.377/.574 line with a 13% walk rate to put himself back on the radar. San Francisco didn’t call up Díaz at any point during the season, but they’ll devote him a 40-man roster spot for now to keep him from hitting minor league free agency. He still has a minor league option remaining, so he can bounce between San Francisco and Sacramento if he holds the 40-man spot over the winter.

San Francisco acquired Proctor from the Rays in August. He made his big league debut late in the season, appearing in seven games. Jones came over from the Astros on waivers in September, while Dean was claimed last offseason. Johnson is a former sixth-rounder who made his MLB debut in September, getting into 11 games.

Littell has the most experience of the group of outrighted players. The right-hander has pitched in parts of five big league seasons with the Twins and Giants. Littell was a high-leverage arm in 2021, pitching to a 2.92 ERA across 61 2/3 frames. He only managed a 5.08 ERA through 44 1/3 innings this year. Rather than tender him an arbitration contract in the $900K range, San Francisco ran him through waivers.

Proctor and Johnson will remain in the organization and try to play their way onto the 40-man roster. Littell, Dean and Jones will have the ability to qualify for minor league free agency.

Giants Place Alex Wood On 15-Day Injured List

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The Giants placed left-hander Alex Wood on the 15-day injured list due to a shoulder impingement, with the placement retroactive to September 1.  Outfielder Bryce Johnson was called up from Triple-A to take Wood’s spot on the active roster.

Given the date, it is possible Wood has thrown his last pitch of the 2022 season.  Manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area) that the team will re-evaluate Wood in a week’s time to see if a return is feasible.  Since the Giants are all but officially out of the wild card race, the club might decide to shut Wood down for the remainder of the campaign.  San Francisco will go with a bullpen game to cover Wood’s next scheduled start, and possibly for the rest of the season if Wood indeed doesn’t return.

As per most of the advanced metrics, Wood’s 2021 and 2022 numbers have been pretty much identical, with the southpaw posting a 3.60 SIERA last season and a 3.45 SIERA this year.  However, a few less bounces have gone Wood’s way, as while his real-world ERA was a solid 3.83 in 2021, that number ballooned to 5.10 in 2022.  Wood got great results from his sinker in 2021 and his slider was also a plus pitch, but both offerings have been below average this year in Statcast’s view.

Kapler noted that Wood has been trying to pitch through his shoulder problem, which could explain this downturn in production and, in particular, Wood’s recent shaky outings.  Over his last three starts and 12 1/3 innings, Wood has been tagged for a 7.91 ERA.

Shoulder and back injuries have hampered Wood in the past, most notably during the 2019-20 seasons when he pitched only 48 1/3 total big league innings.  Wood did rebound during the 2020 playoffs to help the Dodgers win the World Series, and he pitched well after signing a one-year, $3MM free agent deal with San Francisco in the 2020-21 offseason.  That resulted in a new two-year, $25MM contract to rejoin the Giants last winter.

Carlos Rodon is widely expected to opt out of his contract and re-enter free agency, leaving the Giants with Wood, Logan Webb, Alex Cobb, Jakob Junis, and Anthony DeSclafani under contract or under arbitration control for 2023.  DeSclafani is a question mark after missing most of the season due to ankle surgery, but the Giants still have a decent core rotation in place, even if some additions will likely need to be made.

Giants Place Brandon Belt On Injured List

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The Giants have placed first baseman Brandon Belt on the 10-day injured list due to discomfort in his bothersome right knee, per a team announcement. Outfielder Bryce Johnson has been recalled from Triple-A Sacramento take his spot on the roster.

Belt, 34, has been battling chronic knee issues for much of the season and acknowledged in a candid interview with the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser yesterday that the injury could well impact his baseball future. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about what happens if I’m not able to bounce back,” Belt told Slusser. “But I don’t like thinking about it, because it’s kind of upsetting.”

With two surgeries on that problematic knee already in the rear-view mirror, Belt added to Slusser that he’s “not sure there is anything else that can be done.” Belt has had his knee drained three times already this season, per Slusser.

It’s been a tough season for Belt, who’s hitting .213/.326/.350 on the year with just 18 extra-base hits (eight homers, nine doubles, one triple). From 2020-21, Belt was one of the best hitters in all of baseball, logging a combined .285/.393/.595 batting line with 38 home runs in 560 plate appearances. Among qualified hitters in that time, Belt’s .302/.404/.638 slash and 175 wRC+ against right-handed pitching trailed only Bryce Harper and Juan Soto for tops in Major League Baseball.

This year has been another story entirely, as Belt has been prone to prolonged slumps while navigating the ongoing troubles with his knee. He’s hitting just .150/.269/.200 over his past 25 games and has just two hits and five walks in his past 45 trips to the plate. He’s maintained a keen eye and knowledge of the strike zone, evidenced by this season’s 12.4% walk rate, but Belt has also seen his average exit velocity, hard-hit rate and barrel rate all decline noticeably from that 2020-21 peak. A timetable for Belt’s return hasn’t been provided, but given the recent struggles, there’s a clear need to get him some rest and hope that’ll alleviate some of the discomfort that has contributed heavily this swoon.

Johnson, 26, made his big league debut earlier this season but was held hitless in a tiny sample of four plate appearances spread across four games. He’s hitting .287/.358/.398 in 287 Triple-A plate appearances — a similar but slightly diminished follow-up to last year’s .286/.377/.433 slash in 407 plate appearances at this same level.

A 2017 sixth-rounder, Johnson has never ranked among the system’s very best prospects, but he’s provided average or better offense at just about every minor league spot while serving as a prolific base thief. The speed that makes him a threat on the bases also led to plus scouting grades on his glove in center dating back to his college days. He’ll give the Giants a switch-hitting option who can plug in at any of the three outfield spots for the time being.

Giants Select Bryce Johnson

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The Giants announced to reporters, including Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com, a series of roster moves prior to tonight’s game. Trade acquisition J.D. Davis has been activated, while outfielder Bryce Johnson has had his contract selected. Left-hander Sam Long and infielder Jason Vosler were optioned to make room on the active roster. The club already had an opening on the 40-man roster, so no corresponding move will be required for Johnson’s addition.

Johnson, 26, was selected by the Giants in the sixth round of the 2017 draft. This is his first selection to an MLB roster and he will be making his major league debut whenever he gets into a game. As pointed out by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter links), the Giants have been trying to find ways to improve their defense and Johnson is a glove-first center fielder. The Giants as a whole have a -36 Defensive Runs Saved on the year, putting them 29th in the majors in that regard. Their -29 Outs Above Average is also second-last. Their -29 Ultimate Zone Rating is even worse, coming in dead last. Johnson can hopefully give them a boost in that department.

Johnson has spent the entire year in Triple-A, playing 74 games and hitting .283/.352/.397 for a wRC+ of 91. He’s already stolen 24 bases on the year, something he has a penchant for, swiping at least that many bags in each season since he was drafted.

It seems that speed and defense might be the highlights of his game, with his bat a little less exciting. However, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle points out, there might be platoon opportunities. Though he’s a switch-hitter, Johnson has much better results this year against lefties. He has a .361/.446/.569 line against southpaws but a .249/.309/.321 on the flip side. The Giants have three lefty hitters in their outfield mix right now in Mike Yastrzemski, LaMonte Wade Jr. and Luis Gonzalez, which could allow the club to figure out ways to maximize Johnson’s efforts.

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