The Giants announced on Wednesday that right-hander Jeff Samardzija has been placed on the 10-day disabled list due to tightness in his right shoulder. Right-hander Tyler Beede is up from Triple-A Sacramento to take his spot on the roster for the time being, though the organization’s current hope is that Samardzija will only miss one start, per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. An MRI revealed some inflammation in Samardzija’s shoulder, per Schulman, but there’s no structural damage. With so many injuries in their rotation, the Giants briefly had all three starters listed as “TBA” this weekend, though they’ve since said that Chris Stratton and Andrew Suarez will start the first two games of the series, while a determination on Sunday’s starter has seemingly yet to be made. Schulman notes that the club had been planning to move lefty Ty Blach to the bullpen, but he’s now a candidate to start in Samardzija’s place on Sunday, as is rookie Dereck Rodriguez.
A bit more out of San Francisco, where there are several roster decisions looming on the horizon…
- With Joe Panik, Alen Hanson and Mark Melancon all likely to return from the DL this weekend, and Madison Bumgarner likely to be activated next Tuesday, and two of them (Melancon and Bumgarner) will require corresponding 40-man moves. Kerry Crowley of the San Jose Mercury News runs through some possibilities for the roster over the next six days, listing Steven Okert, Roberto Gomez and Jose Valdez as candidates to be designated for assignment in order to clear 40-man spots for Melancon and Bumgarner.
- More complicated, Crowley notes, is the impending return of Hunter Pence from the 10-day DL. Manager Bruce Bochy implied that Pence will return to the 25-man roster when his rehab window expires this weekend, though his exact role looks uncertain. Andrew McCutchen is the team’s regular right fielder, and the Giants have said that Mac Williamson will be given an everyday opportunity in left field. Pence, of course, can’t play center field, so he appears headed for a limited role. Crowley suggests that either Austin Jackson or Gregor Blanco could land on the disabled list as a temporary fix, though it stands to reason that if Williamson proves adept in left field, the Giants could eventually have a more difficult decision on their hands.
Is Pence done?
He has been done for a while.
Yes, unfortunately.
Should have been done at least two years ago.
I had to turn off the score alerts on my phone because this team is awful. Worry not though, Tyler Beede is up to save the day.
The team isn’t horrible but the starting pitching had been really painful to watch. 1 or 2 of these guys should be a rotation piece but you really are watching a whole rotation of 5th place starters that can’t go deep into games
Pence is on the hole in bat DL
Pence will make a good upgrade for the Rangers. Send him to Arlington and let the Re-Hab Rangers bring him back.
If they want to pay his $18M salary, sure.
I doubt he waives his no-trade clause.
He would in a heartbeat to go back to Houston. Are you nuts?
Geez, the state of the Giants farm is abysmal.
They’ll have to make space for him, even if he only gets 10 ABs a week, but who goes? Jackson hasn’t done much… tough decisions ahead that’s for sure… I’d say this season is almost lost
Jackson can go. Really hasn’t shown much, and if Gorkys Hernandez can sustain his current level of good play, Jackson is redundant.
Pence should be DFA’d. He hits like Kelby Tomilnson but can play one position – left field. They keep him around because of his contract and sentiment but he’ll hurt the team because Bochy will give him plenty of at bats at the expense of better hitters. Jackson can at least fake playing centerfield better than anyone on the roster except Gorkys.
Not counting the giants out yet, but their chances of playoff contention are now soley in the hands of the moves the front office makes. Bobby Evans has been a bonehead in the GM slot, just trade Jackson to a team needing a platoon CF bat. Example? The Nationals. They eat up half the contract, we eat up half. Gives Pence space to be a bench bat and allows them to add a few minor SP signings.
I agree about Jackson since Gorkys is similar and better. With the three errors and lack of hitting, Tomlinson’s days are numbered. Bringing back Samardzija too soon is stupid. He shouldn’t have come back when he did. Think about the Indians or Twins for both Pence and Jackson. Hate to see Hunter go but maybe we can also get a young pitcher or two if the Giants eat some contract. Now is the time for Sabean or Evans to step up.
Gorkys may be better than Jackson this season but Jackson is the second best center fielder on the roster. Blanco can’t really play center anymore and Duggar hasn’t been hitting well at triple AAA. They have to have a backup center fielder, so they should keep Jackson and DFA or trade Blanco or Pence.
One other possibility. Isn’t there an AL team like Seattle, Minnesota or the Indians who could use Cutch. Once again dump some salary and get a young pitcher.
Cutch has looked as bad at the plate as he has in the field this year. Strikeouts are way up and power is non-existent. No real upside for an AL team. Giants are seemingly stuck with him.
Some team will want Clutch but the Giants won’t trade him until they know they’re out of contention for the wild card.
How did our farm system/ pitching get so bad? Bobby Evans… He has driven this team that has so much talent into the ground by not getting any quality arms. His free agents pitching pickups have been a total joke over and over again.
I don’t know how Mccutchen played defense in Pittsburg but he is absolutely terrible with SF. Has made basic plays turn into errors almost every game. He is atrocious and a liability in the field.
Here is what the Giants need to do: release Sandoval, Blanco and Pence right now, trade Bumgarner to the highest bidder at the deadline and stop living off of past glory.
I’ve gone to several River Cats games and Pence looks like a different hitter. Yeah, I get that he’s facing AAA pitching, but his whole approach at the plate looks better — and he’s actually being productive.