Wade gets start off with hand strain

On a day the Giants had to place AllStar catcher Buster Posey on the injured list with a bruised left thumb, they also had a lineup scratch: LaMonte Wade Jr., perhaps the most impressive addition among the team’s excellent reserve players, got the start off with a left hand strain.

“I saw him hit earlier in the day and he looked good, then he went out to take some additional swings at higher intensity, and we just feel like it makes more sense to get an additional day here and see how he’s doing, try to get him ready to pinch hit and play some defense off the bench,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “As we inch closer to the All Star break, we want to be cognizant of not losing guys longer than we need to.”

Wade, who has been playing first base against righthanded starters with Brandon Belt on the IL, was injured in his second atbat Wednesday; he has seven homers in 38 games and his nine goahead RBIs and five gamewinning RBIs are both second most on the team behind Brandon Crawford. Darin Ruf got the start at first Friday against righthander Paolo Espino.

Belt, who went on the IL on June 24 with right knee inflammation, took 50 swings off coaches throwing batting practice in the cage Friday. He also took grounders at first base for the first time since getting injured on a play at the plate in Anaheim. But the real key for him will be starting to run again, which is likely to happen the week after next. “Assuming there are no snags,” he said. “Right now, I feel great.”

Second baseman Tommy La Stella (hamstring, fractured thumb) restarted his rehab assignment at TripleA Sacramento on Friday and starter Aaron Sanchez (biceps, finger blister) is scheduled to start for Class A San Jose on Saturday. Reliever Reyes Moronta (right flexor strain) will throw live batting practice Saturday in San Jose.

Briefly: President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said Friday that the Giants will evaluate top prospects Heliot Ramos and Marco Luciano for promotions in the second half, and if Ramos moves up to Sacramento, from there, “anything can happen.” ... Catcher Chadwick Tromp was taking grounders in the infield Friday and Kapler said Tromp would like to diversify his positions.