Longoria feels he’s ready for debut
SAN FRANCISCO » When the doors of the Giants clubhouse opened Monday afternoon, a familiar if somewhat unexpected face was sitting at his corner locker, beneath a couple of Tom Brady Buccaneers jerseys.
Although he wasn’t activated for Monday’s series opener with the Colorado Rockies, Evan Longoria was back from a five-day rehab assignment and had reclaimed his spot in the clubhouse. It’s only a matter of days before he does the same at third base and the middle of the Giants batting order.
Longoria, who has missed the first 29 games of the season after undergoing surgery to repair a ligament in his right index finger, said that his 2022 debut will come “hopefully in the next three or four days.”
Manager Gabe Kapler affirmed Longoria’s declaration: “He’s ready to play.”
“I’m as close to ready as I’ll be,” Longoria said. “We have some conversations to be had, but I definitely feel the hand is healthy.”
The addition of Longoria will be welcomed by a banged-up lineup that recently endured a five-game losing streak during which it produced 10 total runs. The arrival of Longoria also marks one of the final Giants left to return from the
IL.
LaMonte Wade Jr. (left knee) made his season debut this past weekend after missing the first 25 games. Brandon Belt, while still sidelined Monday with a stiff neck, gave the Giants a clean bill of health in the COVID department when he returned Saturday after an outbreak caught up five players.
So, what’s the hold up in activating Longoria?
A left-hander, Austin Gomber, was on the mound for the Rockies on Monday. If Longoria is healthy, it would have seemed like the kind of soft landing the Giants have tried to provide players coming back from injuries and up from Triple-A.
Longoria went 5-for-18 (.278) on his rehab assignment
but also struck out seven times, including a hat trick in his final game with Triple-A Sacramento on Sunday. At 36 years old, in his 15th MLB season, Longoria admitted it was difficult to focus at times on the pitching he was facing at Triple-A.
“My at-bats were just OK down there. I struck out too much,” he said. “You get a little bit jaded by the big leagues. My focus has been does my hand feel good? Does my body feel good? Am I swinging at the right pitches? I felt like a lot of my at-bats down there, especially, the ones I struck out in, I had pitches to hit in the at-bat and I just didn’t put them in play. I think some of it, right or wrong, is lack of focus . ... Physically I feel good.”
Kapler said the Giants are “figuring out what the right time to activate him is.”
“Evan knows that when one player gets activated, another gets optioned,” Kapler said. “He knows that we’re thinking about upcoming matchups and the best way to get the most out of his playing time. He’s not necessarily a guy who we’re going to throw out there and he’s going to play the first 10 games off the IL.”
For now, the hot-hitting Wilmer Flores continued to man third base Monday night.
Longoria will continue his work with the big club at its facilities in San Francisco. He said that, at this point, he was “barely treating” the surgically repaired finger and his work mostly revolved around live reps. On Monday, he sat in on Alex Cobb’s bullpen session and took cuts in the cage.
Oh, the Brady swag? Two matching white No. 12 jerseys, a gift from a clubhouse attendant in Tampa. Longoria hasn’t had a chance to meet the pride of San Mateo’s Serra High but, having spent the first decade of his career in Tampa, is a big Bucs fan.
“Sick, huh?” he said.
Injury updates
Tommy La Stella (right Achilles sheath) continued on to El Paso for Triple-A Sacramento.