Belt might start Tuesday
First baseman Brandon Belt could rejoin the lineup as soon as Tuesday night after reporting significant improvement in his left wrist, which he hurt Saturday night in San Diego.
Belt missed his second consecutive game Monday in the series opener against Cleveland. With Buster Posey returning behind the plate to catch Matt Moore, Jae-Gyun Hwang played first base in the majors for the first time after starting there 28 times for Triple-A Sacramento.
“If it improves as much tomorrow as it did today, I can probably play tomorrow,” Belt said before batting practice, during which he took grounders and threw, but did not swing a bat.
Belt is having a “three true outcomes” season. He is on pace for career highs in homers (28) and strikeouts (157). He also is on pace for 93 walks, which would be 11 fewer than his career high last season.
His batting average (.244) is down 31 points from last year. Who’s in left? When Austin Slater went on the disabled list, manager Bruce Bochy said he would use Gorkys Hernandez and Kelby Tomlinson in left field. But Hernandez has become the everyday left fielder and Tomlinson has not played in the outfield since May 10.
Although Hernandez’s slash line of .238/.317/.298 entering Monday was not pretty, his hitting has improved markedly since the end of May. He entered Monday having hit .338 in his past 74 at-bats and had his first career four-hit game Friday night in San Diego.
“He had a great game,” Bochy said. “His at-bats have been pretty good. It’s good to have his defense out there, too.”
Tomlinson, a natural infielder, took flyballs in left before batting practice. Bochy expects to start him soon with Hernandez moving to center or right to get Denard Span or Hunter Pence a day off.
Rookie Ryder Jones, who also can play left, will begin a rehab assignment for Triple-A Sacramento on Tuesday. Jones’ hand was bruised by a pitch in Pittsburgh on July 1. New kid: The Giants have reached a contract agreement with Texas high school righthander Jack Conlon, who was the Orioles’ fourth-round pick in the June draft but did not sign, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.