Williamson out, Slater up

Austin Slater shares an apartment with Chris Shaw in Sacramento and rooms with Steven Duggar on the road. The three longtime friends muse about a day they will play side by side by side in the Giants’ outfield.

“We hope that’s what we can see someday,” Slater said after his promotion from Triple-A on Saturday. “We have a great group of (outfielders) up here, so I’m not taking anything away from them, but being young guys, that’s what we talk about.”

The Giants will not go that way soon. A Duggar call-up is not imminent, and the Giants added Slater not to replace a veteran, but Mac Williamson, who was optioned. Williamson batted .187 with five extra-base hits in 75 at-bats since returning from a concussion.

The Giants want Williamson to play every day in the minors to regain his swing and confidence.

That was not going to happen in San Francisco with the emergence of Alen Hanson, who is expected to play left field against right-handed pitchers, as he did Saturday. Manager Bruce Bochy expects Slater to help off the bench and get some starts, but not against Padres lefty Eric Lauer on Sunday. Bochy plans to play Hunter Pence in left.

In fact, Bochy wants to find more starts when he can for Pence (.195 batting average, .463 OPS) and outfielder Austin Jackson (.241, .603).

While it’s no secret that many fans and some in the press have lost all faith in those two, Bochy

has not, saying everyone gave up on Gorkys Hernandez last year, too, and now he is producing.

Bochy noted that Pence contributed hits in all of his recent starts, except for the game against Washington’s Max Scherzer. Bochy also believes he has placed Jackson in a “tough role,” pinch-hitting against good relievers without getting a chance to start games and get consistent swings.

“You never forget the history of the players and the heart they have,” Bochy said. “Nobody is working harder than A-Jax or Pence. It would be different if that weren’t the case.” Briefly: Johnny Cueto, pitching for the first time since April 28, threw 48 pitches in 32⁄3 shutout innings with no walks and four strikeouts for Triple-A Sacramento in the first of three expected rehab starts in his comeback from a partially torn elbow ligament. He allowed one infield hit . ... Jeff Samardzija (pectoral strain) will make a third rehab start Tuesday for Sacramento, in Albuquerque. The Giants want him to go about 90 pitches and throw more innings than the four he had last time.