Silver Slugger Award presented to Solano

Donovan Solano, repeatedly demoted and overlooked by other organizations most of his career, earned a bigleague job with the Giants two years ago and increased playing time last year.

That faith from the Giants translated into a Silver Slugger Award, which Solano received before Saturday’s game at Oracle Park. The honor goes to the best offensive player at each position — in Solano’s case, second base.

“It’s going to mean a lot to me because I’m going to be able to share this accomplishment with my family,” Solano said before the game, with Erwin Higueros interpreting. “I’m going to put it away in a safe place and just kind of look at it and remember what a good year I had last year.”

Last season, Solano hit .326, tops among Giants regulars, with 15 doubles, three homers and 29 RBIs in 54 games, and he’s batting .329 overall since joining the Giants, the third highest average in bigleague history for a player after not playing for two consecutive bigleague seasons. The top two: Lefty O’Doul hit .353 from 192834 after returning to the PCL from 192427, and Ted Williams hit .340 from 19461960 after missing 194345 while in the Navy.

Manager Gabe Kapler and hitting coaches Donnie Ecker, Justin Viele and Dustin Lind presented Solano with the award. Kapler said it means a lot to Solano, his hitting coaches and teammates as well.

“He’s one of our hardest workers,” Kapler said, “he’s always smiling, always accountable, doesn’t get bent out of shape on a day like today when even though he’s been one of our better hitters this season, he’s not in the lineup.

“The good energy he brings to the ballpark every day coupled with the excellent performance makes him among our easiest players to root for.”

La Stella back in: With the Giants facing five lefthanded starters in their first seven games and Tommy La Stella also missing one game with back tightness, the team’s new infielder — signed to a threeyear deal this offseason — hasn’t had much playing time. The lefthanded hitter was in the lineup against righthander Chi Chi González on Saturday and had hits in his first two atbats, seeing 14 pitches in that span. He then walked in his fourth plate appearance.

“It will be nice to get three or four atbats and get a little more in the flow of the game,” La Stella said beforehand, emphasizing that his lack of playing time is understandable given the team’s many good righthanded hitters, including Wilmer Flores and Solano. “Looking at our roster, as stacked as we are especially through the infield, if you’re able to play the matchup and you have that luxury, I think it’s something you need to do. Donnie or Flo, whoever is going to be out there, they hammer lefties.”