Giants may look for more help in minors
NL West leaders showing signs they’re not yet looking at trades
Despite matching their longest losing streak of the season, Giants end the month where they started it.
Despite matching their longest losing streak of the season with a three-game skid, the Giants end the month of June exactly where they started it: In first place in the National League West.
Gabe Kapler’s club became the first team in the majors to reach 50 wins this year, but a loss in a series finale against the A’s coupled with a pair of losses in Los Angeles revealed the Giants have plenty of work to do if they hope to remain in front of the Dodgers and Padres.
With injuries weakening the Giants’ lineup and pitching staff and several key contributors still weeks away from returning, the organization is at a bit of a crossroads.
The Giants have multiple ways to approach it.
The front office could persevere with the Giants’ current roster, immediately pursue trades for reinforcements or make minor tweaks from within the organization that could help Kapler and his coaching staff find the next surprise contributors, as they did earlier this season when Steven Duggar and LaMonte Wade Jr. were given a chance to shine.
Prior to Tuesday’s game at Dodger Stadium, Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi may have revealed his preference for how to deal with the current conundrum.
The club announced that struggling utility man Mauricio Dubón had been optioned to Triple-A Sacramento in a move that sent the Honduras native back to the minors for the first time since 2019. The transaction was not all that surprising considering Dubón had only started eight games in June and his onbase percentage had dipped to .272 on the season, but it’s not a decision the Giants would have made if there was no logical replacement for Dubón.
Fortunately for San Francisco, infielder Thairo Estrada is also capable of backing up Brandon Crawford at shortstop and moving around the diamond as needed. It certainly didn’t hurt that in 37 Triple-A games since joining the organization, Es
trada hit .385 with a 1.057 OPS while striking out in only 14.4% of his plate appearances.
Swapping Estrada in for Dubón signaled the Giants are willing to look at their internal options before executing any trades that would bring in external help. It’s possible Zaidi and general manager Scott Harris will ultimately need to go outside the organization to upgrade the team’s current roster, but with a month to go before the trade deadline, the Giants should be motivated to see what Estrada and a handful of other unproven players can offer the major league club.
It’s possible that by the time the Giants open their four-game set today in Phoenix against the Diamondbacks, outfielder Jaylin Davis will have made an unlikely return to the major league roster. Davis struggled mightily at spring training, striking out in 12 of his 20 at-bats before right knee tendinitis forced him to the 60day injured list.
A long absence from game action made Davis somewhat of a forgotten man on the Giants’ outfield depth chart, but after beginning a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento on June 10, the right-handed hitting slugger has launched seven home runs and posted a 1.172 OPS in 57 at-bats.
The Giants must add Davis back to the 40-man roster by Thursday, and with suspended pitching prospect Gregory Santos likely headed to the restricted list and outfielder Mike Tauchman (right knee contusion) potentially headed to the 10-day injured list, San Francisco could get a look at Davis in the majors while he’s in the midst of a hot streak at the plate.
Davis isn’t the only Triple-A outfielder worthy of a major league opportunity, either, but finding room on the 40-man roster for 2020 Opening Day right fielder Joe McCarthy or former Seattle Mariners prospect Braden Bishop could be a bit more challenging.
McCarthy went 0-for10 with six strikeouts in a brief stint with the Giants last year, but after transforming his body in the weight room over the offseason, he’s been among the most consistent performers at Triple-A this season and could fill in for Tauchman if the Giants are eager to replace him with a left-handed hitter. Bishop, an outstanding defensive outfielder, is finally healthy and has an on-base percentage of .429 with an OPS sitting above 1.000 since joining the organization in May.
Kapler has expressed confidence that righthanded hitting outfielder Austin Slater will come out of an extended slump at the plate when presented with more opportunities against left-handed pitchers, but if the Giants want to evaluate another righty in their outfield mix, Bishop is a logical choice.