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Jaylin Davis

Giants Place Mike Tauchman On Injured List

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The Giants announced they’ve placed outfielder Mike Tauchman on the 10-day injured list due to a right knee sprain. To replace him on the active roster, San Francisco reinstated fellow outfielder Jaylin Davis from the 60-day IL. A 40-man roster spot for Davis’ activation was opened when right-hander Gregory Santos was suspended for performance-enhancing drugs earlier this week.

Tauchman is only expected to miss 10-14 days, as his sprain is relatively minor, the team told reporters (including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle). Upon his return, the 30-year-old will need to perform better than he has in recent weeks. The Giants acquired Tauchman from the Yankees in April, but the left-handed hitter has only managed a .180/.292/.295 line in 161 plate appearances in black and orange. Tauchman is out of minor league option years, so the Giants will need to continue to keep him on the active roster once he returns from the IL or make him available to other clubs.

The activation is a nice birthday present for Davis, who turns 27 years old today. He’ll be making his season debut once he gets into a game. Davis has been sidelined all year by right knee tendinitis. The powerful right-handed hitter hasn’t done much over 59 major league plate appearances to date, but he’s mashed at a .329/.412/.709 clip in 357 trips to the dish at Triple-A.

The Giants also provided an update on injured first baseman Brandon Belt. He’ll attempt to rehab from the right knee inflammation that sent him to the IL last week (via Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic). Surgery, which would’ve sidelined Belt for eight-to-twelve weeks, had been on the table, but there’s a realistic chance for the 33-year-old to return without going under the knife. There’s no timetable for his return, but Baggarly notes he’ll be “definitiely” be back in less than two months if all goes well.

Giants Acquire Thairo Estrada

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The Giants have acquired infielder Thairo Estrada in a trade with the Yankees in exchange for cash considerations, the two teams announced.  Estrada will head to the Giants’ alternate training site and be added to the 40-man roster.  Outfielder Jaylin Davis (left knee tendinitis) was placed on the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move to open up a 40-man roster space.

New York designated Estrada for assignment earlier this week to free up roster space for the newly-acquired Rougned Odor.  Estrada has spent his entire professional career in the Yankees organization, hitting .280/.337/.389 with 26 home runs over 1949 minor league plate appearances from 2013-19 and .214/.267/.348 over 121 PA at the Major League level in 2019-20.  Rather than his bat, Estrada’s value came from his defensive versatility, as he logged a lot of playing time at shortstop, second base, and third base in the minors, and also made a few appearances as a corner outfielder in 2019.

Estrada may have a tough time breaking into a Giants depth chart that is already full of multi-positional infielders, but he might be a better depth option behind Brandon Crawford at shortstop than Donovan Solano or Mauricio Dubon, particularly since Dubon has been increasingly deployed as an outfielder.

Davis was already expected to be sidelined for four-to-six weeks due to his knee issue, so the 60-day placement will allow Davis some time to fully ramp up in the minors before the Giants consider finding a spot for him on the active roster.  The 26-year-old has seen action with San Francisco in each of the last two seasons, appearing in 21 total games with a .515 OPS over 59 PA.

NL West Injury Notes: Dodgers, Rockies, Giants

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Brusdar Graterol’s placement on the 60-day injured list was either a procedural move or incorrect, depending on who you ask, but the Dodgers’ right-hander does plan on returning to the field in less than 60 days. His delayed debut this season is “related to COVID from the past,” per Jorge Castillo of the LA Times. It’s a peculiar situation surrounding the flame-throwing Venezuelan. He’s not hurt, simply behind. He didn’t begin throwing this spring until late in March, and he’s still working himself into game shape. Let’s make the rounds to see how other arms are progressing out west…

  • Kyle Freeland is working his way back from a shoulder injury suffered near the end of spring training, and there’s no timetable for his return. That said, he does appear to be making progress, per Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Specifics remain scarce, but the presumption seems to be that Freeland’s injury won’t threaten his season. The Rockies are able to start the season with a four man rotation, but they’ll soon need to add another arm to the mix beyond German Marquez, Antonio Senzatela, Jon Gray, and Austin Gomber. Newly-signed Jhoulys Chacin could be a candidate for bulk innings. Keep an eye on Antonio Santos in the long-term. The 24-year-old righty made his debut last season after just eight starts in Double-A. He may not be the first name called this season, but he’s likely to find his way back to the Majors at some point in 2021.
  • The Giants released a number of injury updates, per MLB.com’s Maria I. Guardado (via Twitter). Jaylin Davis will be out for four to six weeks as he rehabs left knee tendinitis. John Brebbia and Tyler Beede are both throwing twice-weekly bullpens as they prepare to come back from Tommy John surgery. Dedniel Nunez underwent his own Tommy John surgery this past Tuesday, and he will begin his rehab process this week. Lastly, Alex Wood threw a sim game as he tries to return from a lower back strain. Wood was expected to play a big role in the Giants rotation picture this season, and they still hope that’s the case.

Giants Designate Dany Jimenez, Option Jaylin Davis

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The Giants announced a series of roster moves Thursday, as they optioned outfielders Jaylin Davis and Joe McCarthy to their alternate training site, designated Rule 5 right-hander Dany Jimenez for assignment and recalled Steven Duggar. Meanwhile, corner infielders Brandon Belt and Evan Longoria were activated from the injured list.

Jimenez, 26, was selected out of the Blue Jays organization in December’s Rule 5 Draft, but his brief time with the Giants didn’t go particularly well. He allowed a run in 1 1/3 innings of work and walked three of the eight batters he faced. Jimenez threw only 37 pitches with the Giants, and fewer than half of those offerings were strikes. The righty was certainly impressive in the minors last year — albeit against younger competition. In 59 2/3 innings between Class-A Advanced and Double-A, Jimenez notched a 2.59 ERA with 14.2 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9.

Jimenez will be put through waivers now, and if he’s claimed by another club, he’d retain his Rule 5 status with the new team. If Jimenez goes unclaimed, he’ll be offered back to the Blue Jays. The two clubs could also work out a trade that’d allow the Giants to retain Jimenez’s rights as a non-roster player who’d no longer be tied to Rule 5 roster limitations.

It’s a bit of a surprise to see Davis sent down, as the Giants appear high on the 26-year-old slugger. Acquired from the Twins a year ago in the Sam Dyson swap that proved quite regrettable for Minnesota — Dyson had a shoulder injury he’d not disclosed to the Giants or Twins that required surgery — Davis has gotten out to a slow start. He’s appeared in four games and gone just 2-for-12 with a solo home run and six strikeouts. Today’s move notwithstanding, the Giants will surely want to take a longer look at Davis after he decimated minor league pitching to the tune of a .306/.397/.590 slash last year. It seems likely that he’ll be up again in the not-too-distant future, but for now he’ll work at the team’s alternate site while Duggar gets another go-around at the MLB level.

NL Notes: Kieboom, Harrison, Giants

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Let’s check in on a few roster situations from the National League.

  • The Nationals plan to give Carter Kieboom an opportunity to win the third base job, manager Dave Martinez told reporters (including Todd Dybas of NBC Sports Washington). The 22-year-old is a consensus top prospect coming off a year in which he hit .303/.409/.493 with 16 home runs in 494 plate appearances. Kieboom has played mostly in the middle infield in the minors, but Martinez indicated he’ll be used strictly as a third baseman for the time being. Washington hadn’t previously had room for Kieboom at the hot corner, but the departure of Anthony Rendon and failure to reel in Josh Donaldson created an opening. If Kieboom doesn’t prove ready for everyday playing time on a contender, Asdrúbal Cabrera gives Martinez a fallback option. Starlin Castro is on hand, too, but it seems Washington will keep him at second base full-time, relays Sam Fortier of the Washington Post.
  • Marlins’ outfield prospect Monte Harrison has an opportunity to win a spot on Miami’s season-opening roster, relays Joe Frisaro of MLB.com as part of a reader mailbag. Harrison, one of Miami’s top prospects, slashed a solid but unspectacular .274/.357/.451 in his first crack at Triple-A last season. Given the continued struggles of Lewis Brinson, who was acquired alongside Harrison in the regrettable Christian Yelich trade, there could be an opportunity for Harrison to claim the center field job. As Frisaro notes, Harrison is already on the Marlins’ 40-man roster, so no further move would be necessary.
  • Mike Yastrzemski seems likely to get the first crack at the center field job for the Giants, relays Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. That could give an opportunity for prospect Jaylin Davis, acquired last summer from the Twins, to stake a claim to a corner outfield spot. Yastrzemski was quite good for San Francisco in 2019, slashing .272/.334/.518 (121 wRC+) while serving primarily in the corner outfield, although he did start a pair of games in center. It’s an open question whether he can sustain that level of offensive production, considering he was previously an unheralded 28-year-old rookie. Steven Duggar’s also on hand and is a more natural fit in center defensively, but Pavlovic notes that he’s unlikely to have an everyday role. That’s not surprising, as Duggar owns a woeful .241/.286/.358 line (72 wRC+) over the past two seasons.

Giants Promote Jaylin Davis

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The Giants announced today that they have selected the contract of outfielder Jaylin Davis. He’ll take the 40-man roster spot of reliever Reyes Moronta, who was placed on the 60-day injured list.

Davis came to the San Francisco organization as part of the deadline deal that sent reliever Sam Dyson to the Twins. The former 25th-rounder was putting up big numbers in the upper minors at the time of the swap but was obviously deemed expendable by the Minnesota organization.

Since changing jerseys, Davis has continued to rake. Over the course of the year, he has posted well-above-average numbers at each stop: a 147 wRC+ at Double-A, 175 wRC+ in the International League, and 160 wRC+ in the Pacific Coast League.

It remains to be seen whether Davis will be able to apply his power consistently enough at the major-league level. But it’ll certainly be fun to see whether he can do so. We’ve seen other under-the-radar slugger types carry forward big upper-minors production into the bigs. If that’s the case for Davis, the Giants could have a steal. He’d have required a 40-man spot in advance of this winter’s Rule 5 draft regardless of today’s move, so there was little reason not to give him his first look now.

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