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Giants Select Zack Littell, Designate Skye Bolt

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The Giants have selected the contract of right-hander Zack Littell, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle first reported. In other moves, the Giants designated outfielder Skye Bolt for assignment, recalled outfielder Steven Duggar and optioned infielder Jason Vosler, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets.

Still just 25 years old, Littell joined the Giants on a minor league contract over the winter after spending parts of three seasons in the majors with the Twins, who acquired him from the Yankees in 2017. Littell totaled 63 2/3 innings in the bigs from 2018-20 and posted a 4.52 ERA/4.70 SIERA with a 17.6 percent strikeout rate, an 8.3 walk rate and a 39.2 percent groundball mark. After Littell surrendered seven earned runs on 12 hits (including five home runs) over 6 1/3 frames in 2020, the Twins outrighted him.

Bolt, 27, joined the Giants as a waiver claim from the Athletics on April 5. He wound up appearing in just two of the Giants’ games and picking up one plate appearance before they designated him. Bolt still has a minor league option remaining, and he was once a decently regarded prospect, so another team could try to acquire him via waivers or trade in the next week.

Giants Place Mike Yastrzemski On Injured List

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The Giants are placing Mike Yastrzemski on the 10-day injured list, Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group was among those to pass along. Sam Selman has been recalled in a corresponding roster move.

Yastrzemski’s IL trip isn’t all that surprising, as the outfielder has been nursing a mild oblique strain since Sunday. While the Giants had initially hoped he would be able to avoid a trip to the IL, it seems he’ll need at least an extra few days to recover. The 30-year-old has been one of the Giants’ top hitters in recent seasons, even earning some down-ballot MVP support last year. Yastrzemski got off to a tough start in 2021, but he had seemingly begun to turn the corner over the past few series. Altogether, he’s managed a .215/.303/.468 line with four home runs in 89 plate appearances so far this year.

With Yastrzemski ailing, the Giants acquired another left-handed hitting outfielder, Mike Tauchman, in a trade with the Yankees yesterday. Tauchman joins a mix that’ll also include Austin Slater, Alex Dickerson, Mauricio Dubón and Skye Bolt while Yastrzemski is on the shelf.

Yankees Trade Mike Tauchman To Giants For Wandy Peralta

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The Yankees have traded outfielder Mike Tauchman to the Giants for left-handed reliever Wandy Peralta, Jack Curry of the YES Network reports. New York will also receive a player to be named later, the team announced.

This deal sends the 30-year-old Tauchman back to the National League West, where the former 10th-round pick played with the Rockies from 2017-18. Tauchman was unable to establish himself in Colorado, which traded him to the Yankees for lefty Phillip Diehl shortly before the 2019 season.

At first, the Tauchman pickup looked like a steal for the Yankees, as he appeared in 87 games as a reserve in his initial year with the team and slashed a terrific .277/.361/.504 with 13 home runs, six steals and 2.6 fWAR over 296 plate appearances. Tauchman blended that offensive performance with great work among all three outfield positions, combining for 19 Defensive Runs Saved in the grass.

While the 2019 version of Tauchman was a gem, his production and playing time have significantly dwindled since then. Tauchman did appear in 43 games and total 111 PA last season, but he failed to hit a homer, batted a below-average .242/.342/.305 and essentially broke even in the field with zero DRS and a minus-2.2 Ultimate Zone Rating. Meanwhile, fellow Yankees outfielders Aaron Judge, Clint Frazier, Aaron Hicks and Brett Gardner each recorded far superior production, which helped lead Tauchman to fall out of favor.

With Judge, Frazier, Hicks and Gardner returning, Tauchman became an afterthought for the Yankees this year. So far, he has picked up a meager 16 trips to the plate and batted .214/.267/.286 without a homer. Now, the out-of-options Tauchman will provide versatile depth in a Giants outfield that has used Mike Yastrzemski (though he’s currently dealing with a mild oblique issue), Austin Slater, Alex Dickerson, Mauricio Dubon and Darin Ruf, among others, this season. Tauchman won’t reach arbitration for the first time until the upcoming winter, so he could be a multiyear piece for the Giants if he performs to their liking this season.

Peralta, 29, started his career in 2016 with the Reds, who lost him on waivers to the Giants late in the 2019 campaign. Despite 95-96 mph fastball velocity and a career 50.4 percent groundball rate, Peralta has typically had trouble keeping runs off the board. Through 192 2/3 innings, including 8 1/3 this season, Peralta has recorded a 4.72 ERA/4.58 SIERA with unspectacular strikeout and walk percentages of 18.5 and 10.8, respectively.

Peralta still has a minor league option remaining, though he’ll only be eligible for arbitration one more time. For now, Peralta will give the New York organization a third southpaw relief option behind closer Aroldis Chapman and Lucas Luetge. The Yankees have had to go this season without key lefty setup man Zack Britton, who’s on the mend from arthroscopic elbow surgery and probably won’t return until the summer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Giants Outright Trevor Gott

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Giants right-hander Trevor Gott has cleared waivers and been outrighted to the team’s alternate site, Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group tweets. Gott had been in limbo since the Giants designated him for assignment last Tuesday.

This is the second time since February the Giants have outrighted Gott, whom they relied on somewhat heavily as recently as 2019. That season, his first as a Giant, Gott threw 52 2/3 innings of 4.44 ERA/3.73 SIERA ball with a 26.6 percent strikeout rate and a 7.9 percent walk rate.

Gott was unable to build on his 2019 success last season, when he dealt with elbow troubles and tossed just 11 2/3 frames. While the 28-year-old did average an imposing 95.5 mph on his fastball, opposing offenses still smacked him around for 13 earned runs on 13 hits (including seven homers) and eight walks.

West Notes: Giants, Mariners, Athletics

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Although outfielder Mike Yastrzemski suffered a mild oblique strain Sunday, the Giants are hopeful he’ll avoid the 10-day injured list, manager Gabe Kapler told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle and other reporters. The Giants expect Yastrzemski to miss five to six games, but if he’s not ready beyond then, an IL placement may become necessary. Yastrzemski entered 2021 off back-to-back highly productive campaigns, and though he struggled at the outset of this season, his numbers began turning around before his injury. He has slashed .215/.303/.468 with four home runs in 89 plate appearances.

Here’s more regarding San Francisco and a couple other West Coast franchises:

  • The Giants put right-hander Johnny Cueto on the IL on April 15 with a Grade 1 lat strain, and he’ll sit out for at least a couple more weeks. Kapler revealed Cueto won’t return until May 9 at the earliest, which means he’ll wind up missing at least four starts, Slusser notes. San Francisco’s expectation was that Cueto would only miss two turns when he landed on the shelf. When healthy, Cueto has contributed to what has been an excellent Giants rotation with 20 innings of 1.80 ERA ball and a 24.3 percent strikeout rate against a 5.4 percent walk rate.
  • The Mariners have placed lefty Nick Margevicius on the 10-day IL with left shoulder inflammation and recalled righty Robert Dugger, the team announced. Margevicius’ IL trip comes one day after a disastrous performance in Boston, where he gave up four earned runs on two hits and four walks in a third of an inning. In five appearances (three starts) and 12 innings this year, Margevicius has been tattooed for 16 runs (11 earned) on 13 hits and seven walks. The Mariners are likely to plug righty Ljay Newsome into their rotation to take Margevicius’ place, manager Scott Servais suggested (via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times). Newsome has held his own across four relief appearances this season, having allowed two earned runs on nine hits with 11 strikeouts against one walk over 10 2/3 frames.
  • The Athletics activated Mike Fiers from the IL on Monday, but the longtime starter will work out of their bullpen for the time being, manager Bob Melvin informed reporters (including Martin Gallegos of MLB.com). That means the A’s will stick with a five-man rotation consisting of Sean Manaea, Chris Bassitt, Frankie Montas, Jesus Luzardo and Cole Irvin. Fiers – who missed the first few weeks of the season with a lumbar strain – will try to bounce back from a disappointing showing 2020 showing in which he notched a 4.58 ERA/5.41 SIERA in 59 innings.

MLBTR Poll: Do You Believe In The Giants?

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The Padres beat the Dodgers in extras last night in yet another affirmation of baseball’s hottest rivalry, but there’s another team that sits between the Padres and the division-leading Dodgers out west: the San Francisco Giants.

At 14-8, the San Francisco Giants somewhat surprisingly sit tied with their partners across the bay in Oakland for the second-best winning percentage in baseball. It seems like every year we expect the Giants to bottom out, but under President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi, the Giants put out competitive squads. And yet, they haven’t finished above .500 since 2016. They were 29-31 in 2020, just barely missing out on the final playoff spot in an expanded field.

They’re off to a fantastic start in 2021. Despite a lack of star power, the Giants pitching staff boasts a 2.94 ERA, second only to the Padres league-wide. By fielding independent pitching, the Giants allow 3.59 runs per nine innings, and while that suggests the ball may be bouncing in their favor early on, that’s still the seventh-best mark in the Majors. They’re a top-10 team in limiting free passes with a 7.9 percent walk rate and striking out an above-average 24.9 percent of hitters. Better yet, they’re keeping the ball on the ground at a league-best 49.9 percent groundball rate.

Coming into the season, a rotation pool of Kevin Gausman, Johnny Cueto, Anthony DeSclafani, Alex Wood, Aaron Sanchez, and Logan Webb wasn’t likely first on Pitching Ninja’s teams to watch, especially not in a division with the star-powered rotations in San Diego and Los Angeles. The Giants’ group, by comparison, had former stars, late-developers, and injury perennials. Four turns through the five-man cycle, however, the Giants starters are second overall with a 2.46 ERA, fifth with a 3.16 FIP, and second by volume with 127 2/3 innings. They’re also limiting hard contact with a 28.6 percent hard hit percentage, tied for second overall.

Is regression coming to Oracle Park? They’ve benefited from the seventh-best batting average on balls in play (.256 BABIP), they’ve been best in the game at stranding runners with a 85.2 percent left on base rate, and they’re tied for third with a 9.7 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate. It’s pretty early to know how “earned” those rankings are.

While the pitching has been about as good as they might have hoped, the offense actually has some room to grow. As a group, their 89 wRC+ is a bottom-10 mark overall, despite a top-10 .176 team ISO. Like the pitching staff, the offense shares a .256 BABIP mark, fourth-lowest among offenses. Mike Yastrzemski’s potential oblique injury could be a blow, and while it’s been great seeing Buster Posey and Evan Longoria turn back the clock to the tune of 150 wRC+ and 160 wRC+, respectively, they are going to slow down.

This is our third season of Zaidi’s Giants. He can claim a number of savvy, low-key development wins like the star turns from Yaz and Gausman, but while they’ve sniffed around the edges of some significant free agents, they’ve largely let the big-ticket names head elsewhere. With the Giants off to the races in what’s sure to be a competitive division, will Zaidi be more aggressive on the trade market if they stay in the playoff picture?

Will they stay in the playoff picture? Are you bullish or bearish on the Giants’ hot start? April is a time for belief in baseball, so let’s see what y’all believe about the Giants.

(Poll link for app users)

Injury Notes: Pham, Cueto, Flores, Yaz, Springer

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Tommy Pham came up limping after grounding out in the second inning of tonight’s Padres game in Los Angeles, per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com (via Twitter). Pham stopped running about halfway down the baseline, clearly uncomfortable. Pham’s reaction, while muted, also suggested that he knew something was off as he reached for his ankle. An Achilles injury is the fear, but the injury appears to be left calf tightness, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). As for tonight, Jorge Mateo took over in left for Pham. Elsewhere…

  • Johnny Cueto is likely to miss a third start before returning from the injured list, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). Cueto was placed on the injured list ten days ago with a grade 1 lat strain. The expectation at the time was that he would miss two starts, so it sounds like he’ll miss that target. That said, there was no indication that the injury was any more severe than originally diagnosed. Cueto should still be able to return shortly. In the meantime, Logan Webb will get at least one more turn in the rotation. Complicating matters in a good way for the Giants, Webb went seven scoreless against the Marlins today.
  • Also in San Francisco, Wilmer Flores missed today’s ballgame because he was under the weather, but after receiving fluids he’s on the mend. Mike Yastrzemski, meanwhile, was taken out of the game because of left oblique tightness, per the Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly (via Twitter). Because of their short bench, don’t be surprised if Yaz lands on the injured list tomorrow, but the team gave no indication one way or the other.
  • Blue Jays fans may finally get the chance to see offseason acquisition George Springer this week. Per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sports.net.ca (via Twitter), manager Charlie Montoyo said, ““I’m optimistic that Springer’s got a good chance on Tuesday.” Springer’s return still hinges on his a final check-up, but the club hopes the 31-year-old will be in the lineup to face Max Scherzer in Dunedin on Tuesday.

Injury Notes: Crawford, Longoria, Rendon, Nola, Giolito

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The Giants made Brandon Crawford a late scratch from yesterday’s lineup due to quad tightness.  Evan Longoria also missed his second consecutive game with hamstring tightness, after the same issue forced him to make an early exit from last Thursday’s game.  To add some extra infield help, the Giants called up Jason Vosler from the alternate training site prior to yesterday’s game (reliever Jarlin Garcia was placed on the 10-day IL with a left groin strain).

San Francisco has more infield depth than most clubs, though even the Giants’ roster has been stressed with Crawford and Longoria both hurting and Donovan Solano already on the injured list recovering from a calf strain.  Mauricio Dubon is the top choice to fill in at shortstop if Crawford has to miss any more time, while Wilmer Flores has been handling third base in Longoria’s absence.  It also creates an opportunity for Vosler, who made his MLB debut last night.  The 27-year-old was a 16th-round pick for the Cubs back in 2014, and Vosler has spent his minor league career in the Cubs and Padres farm systems, also spending time at San Diego’s alternate training site in 2020.

The latest on some other injury situations from around baseball…

  • Anthony Rendon could return to the Angels’ lineup tomorrow or Tuesday, manager Joe Maddon told The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya and other reporters.  Rendon hit the 10-day IL due to a left groin strain back on April 12, so the third baseman will likely end up missing only slightly more than the 10-day minimum.  Anaheim’s already-strong offense will be even more dangerous with the addition of a former All-Star in Rendon, who is entering his second season with the team.
  • Austin Nola could return to the Padres lineup next week, manager Jayce Tingler told reporters (including Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune).  Nola has been out since mid-March after fracturing his left middle finger in Spring Training, though Nola is playing games at the Padres’ alternate training site.  San Diego has relied upon Victor Caratini and top prospect Luis Campusano to handle catching duties in Nola’s absence, though neither Caratini or Campusano have been very productive at the plate.
  • Michael Kopech will start for the White Sox today rather than originally-scheduled starter Lucas Giolito, who told reporters (including Vinnie Duber of NBC Sports Chicago) he has been “pushed back a couple of days” due to a cut on the middle finger of his throwing hand.  As Giolito explained in self-deprecating fashion, he suffered the minor injury because “I thought that a glass water bottle I had was twist-off, and it wasn’t twist-off.”  The team decided to hold Giolito out of today’s start just to be cautious, and the right-hander expects to pitch Tuesday when the White Sox open a series against the Tigers.

West Notes: Solano, Crawford, Rendon, Fiers, Pena

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Giants second baseman Donovan Solano exited their game against the Phillies on Wednesday with a right calf strain, manager Gabe Kapler announced (Twitter links via Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle). Kapler admitted that the injury could lead to an IL stint for Solano, who’s off to a .300/.333/.380 start in 54 plate appearances this year. Should he land on the shelf, Tommy La Stella, Mauricio Dubon and Wilmer Flores would be candidates to fill in at the keystone. Brandon Crawford was also removed from this afternoon’s game early, but it seems his issue isn’t as severe. The longtime San Francisco shortstop felt some tightness in his side and was pulled for precautionary reasons, Kapler said (via Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic).

More from the West divisions:

  • Anthony Rendon is “getting really, really close” to returning to the Angels, manager Joe Maddon told reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times). The star third baseman landed on the injured list April 12 due to a left groin strain. There’s still no specific date for Rendon’s anticipated return, but it doesn’t seem they’ll be without him too much longer. Because of a trio of postponements, the Angels have only played seven games without Rendon so far, going 3-4 while relying on José Rojas, Jack Mayfield and Luis Rengifo at the hot corner.
  • The Athletics could activate right-hander Mike Fiers from the IL in the coming days, according to Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle. The A’s have gone the first few weeks of the season without Fiers after he suffered a lumbar strain that was initially diagnosed as hip inflammation. Fiers, 35, had a rough 2020 – 4.58 ERA/5.41 SIERA in 59 innings – but the A’s still brought him back on a one-year, $3.5MM guarantee in free agency. He figures to slot back into the A’s rotation when he returns, though it’s unclear whom Fiers will replace if the team sticks with a five-man starting staff.
  • Astros shortstop prospect Jeremy Pena will undergo surgery on his left wrist, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports. The Astros announced that Pena will require “approximately five months” to recover, meaning his minor league season is likely over before it even began. Pena hadn’t played above High-A ball coming into this year, but Rome notes that he was expected to start this season at the Triple-A level. The 23-year-old, who is regarded as one of the Astros’ best prospects, combined for a terrific .303/.385/.440 slash with seven home runs and 20 steals across 473 plate appearances between High-A and Low-A in 2019.

Giants Designate Trevor Gott For Assignment

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The Giants announced that they’ve designated right-hander Trevor Gott for assignment and optioned lefty Sam Selman to their alternate training site. The pair of moves makes room for lefty Jake McGee and righty Logan Webb to be reinstated from the injured list.

This is the second time since the offseason that the Giants have designated Gott, who lasted just one day on their roster this time. The Giants selected Gott heading into Monday’s game against the Phillies, though he didn’t make an appearance. Now, with McGee and Webb back from a brief stay on the COVID list, he’s once again in DFA limbo.

The 28-year-old Gott is in his third season in the San Francisco organization, with which he saw significant action in 2019, totaling 52 2/3 innings. The Giants’ reliance on Gott has dwindled since then, however. All told, Gott has pitched to a 5.46 ERA (with a much better 4.23 SIERA) and a 24 percent strikeout rate against a 9.2 percent walk rate in 64 1/3 frames as a Giant.

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