The Giants received further poor luck on the injury front last night, as X-rays revealed a fracture in left fielder Nori Aoki’s right fibula, writes Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. An exact timeline for Aoki’s return is not yet clear, but he’ll head to the 15-day disabled list and be in a cast for two weeks before being re-evaluated.
Aoki’s injury actually occurred on Saturday night in Los Angeles when Aoki was hit by a pitch from Dodgers righty Carlos Frias, but initial tests didn’t reveal the fracture. Aoki had been in the lineup as of Tuesday afternoon, having tested the leg by running some sprints, but the pain in his leg worsened after that and he was sent in for new X-rays, Schulman writes.
The loss of Aoki is a difficult one for the Giants, as the 33-year-old has been outstanding. The one-year, $4.7MM contract (plus a club option) that Aoki signed this winter looks to be one of the best free agent pickups in all of baseball, as he’s hitting .317/.383/.385 with a pair of homers, 12 steals and strong left field defense.
Between Aoki’s injury and the fact that Hunter Pence is on the disabled list for a second time this season, this time due to tendinitis in his left wrist, the Giants are without their starting corner outfielders and two of their more productive all-around hitters. Justin Maxwell and Gregor Blanco could now be pressed into everyday corner outfield duty in San Francisco, although Schulman discusses a number of scenarios to replace Aoki’s bat. One interesting possibility would be deploying Brandon Belt in left field, with Buster Posey shifting to first base and Andrew Susac handling everyday catching duties. As far as replacing Aoki on the 25-man roster, Triple-A outfielder Jarrett Parker, who made his big league debut earlier this season, is an option, Schulman writes. Double-A outfielder Mac Williamson is a longer shot, he adds.
He’ll be on crutches at the All Star Game.
One of those guys who no team was pursuing this past winter and I couldn’t believe it.. Teams were falling all over themselves (again) giving out deals to the same under achiever’s.. Like Michael Morse who perennially fail when they get that payday, yet a guy like Aoki.. Who gets on base, plays decent defense and can steal a few bases and reminds me of former Rays player Aki Iwamura had to settle for less than 5m.
It amazes me how GM’s approach the off season and build teams sometimes.
I believe Morse signed very late in the offseason. I also thought Aoki was a solid signing and a very good cost.
Aoki made total sense for the Giants.
Odd-numbered season. Thankfully the Giants have some outfield depth, but it’s looking pretty stretched right now. Interesting to see Jarrett come up — Perez and Ishikawa aren’t being very productive at Sacramento.
I feel for Aoki. He deserved an All Star berth. Great signing.
Latest tweets from Schulman says that the Giants are leaning towards bringing up Ishikawa, since he’s a LH bat, plus can play 1B while Belt plays LF, instead of starting Susac at C and Posey at 1B, presumably against RHP.
I wonder if the Mets could trade Cuddyer to SF for a bag of balls and a low level lottery ticket?
An obvious guy that could be had to replace Aoki is Gerardo Parra. He’s not all that dissimilar offensively (not as many walks and a bit more power), and an even better defensive OF and he’s having a decent year with the bat.
Brewers acquired him last year for a couple middling prospects and I’d expect they’d want at least one prospect in the Giants top 20 this time, realistically in the 10-20 range.