Buster Posey still staying away from camp.
SANFRANCISCO>> With exactly two weeks until the Giants are scheduled to open the 2020 season at Dodger Stadium, Buster Posey was absent for a second day and missed a practice for the third time since the club began summer workouts at Oracle Park.
Manager Gabe Kapler said Posey is dealing with a personal matter away from the field and still weighing the option of sitting out the season due to concerns regarding the coronavirus pandemic.
“He’s dealing with a personal decision and a personal issue right now, and I just really want that to be his time to work on that,” Kapler said.
Kapler has reiterated the Giants are in no rush for Posey or any other players potentially considering sitting out the season to come to a final decision.
“We are going to take a family-first approach to this,” Kapler said. “We will take it on as a responsibility to scramble as necessary, but we don’t want to rush these very personal decisions. We want to respect and honor the stressors that people have that we may not be seeing.”
The Giants have five other catchers in camp including two, Rob Brantly and Tyler Heineman, who are viewed as primary candidates to serve as Posey’s backup if he elects to play.
The club also announced Thursday that outfielder Billy Hamilton and left-handed reliever Jarlín García have been placed on the 10-day injured list. Kapler said the duo was on the injured list for “medical reasons,” but declined to be more specific.
Teams cannot announce whether player absences are directly related to positive COVID-19 tests unless players give permission to do so.
Hamilton and García appeared to have an inside track on securing Opening Day roster spots during spring training, but after the coronavirus pandemic brought baseball to a halt, neither player had taken the field at Oracle Park since the team returned for summer workouts.
Hamilton, who signed a minor league deal with the Giants in the offseason, figured to be in the mix for a potential depth role in the outfield and manager Gabe Kapler had not ruled out the idea of Hamilton earning at least a part-time starting job in center field.
García was a waiver wire acquisition claimed in February who spent parts of the last three seasons with the Marlins. The left-hander posted a 3.02 ERA in 53 games for Miami last season and it was considered a surprising move when the Marlins designated him for assignment over the offseason.
Without Hamilton in camp, outfielders including Mauricio Dubón, Jaylin Davis, Mike Yastrezmski and Steven Duggar are among the players who have taken reps in center field. It’s unlikely the Giants will settle on a fulltime starter at the position and could rotate as many as three or four different players into center field on a regular basis.
With García on the injured list, the Giants have an intriguing group of lefthanded pitchers who could be poised to break summer camp as members of the Opening Day bullpen. Southpaws including Andrew Suárez, Sam Selman, Conner Menez and even Caleb Baragar, a recent acquisition to the player pool, will all receive opportunities to impress the coaching staff and front office over the next two weeks.
The Giants will bring 30 players to Los Angeles as part of their Opening Day roster and are also permitted to have three players travel with the team on the “taxi squad.” Taxi squad players are not active, but can serve as replacements for injured players, players who must be placed on the coronavirus injured list or players who must sit out due to contract tracing protocols.