Giants trade for All-Star Nunez.
Twins All-Star expected to bolster infield depth; Giants lose 10th out of 12
SAN FRANCISCO — Joe Panik is back, Hunter Pence could return by Saturday and Matt Duffy could be starting a rehab assignment by the weekend.
But the Giants still see a clear need for even more reinforcements, hence their acquisition of All-Star infielder Eduardo Nunez from the Minnesota Twins on Thursday, and G.M. Bobby Evans said the club isn’t done hunting. He’s still probing trade possibilities to bolster the pitching staff, specifically a shaky bullpen that has now lost one of its most reliable arms, left-hander Josh Osich, to the disabled list.
Oh yes, speaking of losing, the Giants lost for the 10th time in 12 games since the All-Star break, this time falling 4-2 to Dusty Baker’s Washington Na-
tionals at AT&T Park, and their once-fat eight-game lead in the National League West has now shrunk to two games over the idle Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Giants are becoming desperate to reverse the momentum of their July skid, and the deal for Nunez, while not addressing their biggest needs, is a move they believe will aid Panik and Duffy integrating back into the mix without putting undue stress on them.
And just judging by the numbers, San Francisco got a pretty productive player in exchange for minor league pitcher Adalberto Mejia. Nunez, who has played parts of seven seasons with the New York Yankees and Minnesota, is hitting .296 with 12 home runs, 49 runs scored, 47 RBIs and an American League-high 27 stolen bases.
Initially, Nunez likely will be playing a lot of third base until Duffy returns, but Evans stressed that it’s still Duffy’s job once he returns and met with Duffy to reassure him of that.
“I made it clear to Matt this is a deal to give us depth behind him, and is certainly in no way intended to replace him,” Evans said. “I wouldn’t expect him to think that, but I just wanted to be sure.”
What they’re looking for from Nunez is a spark, wherever he plays. Once a prized prospect of the Yankees and a projected replacement for Derek Jeter, the 29-year-old Dominican Republic native struggled to realize his potential in New York but has flourished with the Twins, particularly this season. The Giants see him as something of super utility player who could even play the outfield in a pinch and spell infielders all around the diamond down the stretch.
“Just to have a guy that has (Nunez’s) experience and has served in that role in the past and done well, we just feel like he could help us cover the tracks as we get 100 percent healthy,” Evans said.
Evans said it was difficult to part with Mejia, 23, origi- nally an undrafted free agent who impressively risen to a top 10 prospect in the organization and has combined to go 7-3 with a 2.81 ERA in 18 starts between Double-A Richmond and Triple-A Sacramento. But the Giants felt this was a deal they couldn’t pass up.
The G.M. added the club is still actively pursuing pitching options before the July 31 trade deadline, focusing primarily on bullpen possibilities.
“The asks remain significant and the pace remains really slow,” Evans said. “But we he hope to see something come together before the deadline, that’s our hope.”
The Giants would love to see something come together on the field, too, but even with Panik back in the starting lineup after missing 23 games with a concussion, the Giants couldn’t get much offense generated against Nationals starter Tanner Roark (10-6), who limited the Giants to four hits over seven innings. Panik went 0 for 4 in his return.
Meanwhile, starter Johnny Cueto (13-3) struggled just to get through five innings. He allowed three runs in the second inning on five singles — three of them with two strikes on the hitter, including one by the .098-hitting Roark with two out that drove in the second run and allowed leadoff man Trea Turner to knock in the third.
That was the only scoring against Cueto and he got stronger as the game progressed but he was at 101 pitches by the end of the fifth inning and was lifted for a pinch hitter in that frame.
In both of the Giants’ scoring rallies, in the second and the ninth, they managed to load the bases with less than two outs but could only manage a single run in each frame. They went 0 for 9 in the game with runners in scoring position and left nine runners stranded.
“Man, we could have used a big hit there to really pick this club up,” said man- ager Bruce Bochy. “We just couldn’t quite finish it there in the ninth.”
Pence had an RBI single in four at-bats with the River Cats and as long as he came out of the game OK physically, manager Bruce Bochy said he could be headed to San Francisco and be back in the lineup Saturday.
Osich was placed on the disabled list retroactive to July 24 with a left forearm strain. He was 10th in the National League in appearances with 48, lefty hitters were just 9 for 65 against him (.138), and he had allowed just two of 40 inherited runners to score.
Osich will be replaced on the roster by another lefty, Matt Reynolds, who has appeared in a combined 13 games with Double-A Richmond and Triple-A Sacramento and is unscored upon in 10 1/3 innings.