The Giants have activated Wilmer Flores and Austin Slater from the injured list, and both players are in today’s starting lineup against the Cubs. Right-hander John Brebbia and left-hander Caleb Baragar were optioned to Triple-A to create roster room.
Slater is back after spending a week on the concussion-related IL. Back on September 4, the outfielder was concussed after crashing into the wall while trying to catch a Trea Turner home run. Fortunately, Slater is back in pretty short order, and he’ll resume his part-time role on San Francisco’s depth chart. Slater has hit .227/.313/.395 over 288 total plate appearances this season, with much of that damage coming against southpaws — Slater has a .263/.364/.480 slash line and eight home runs in 176 PA against left-handed pitching.
Flores also has a well-earned reputation as a lefty-masher, though he has a comparatively modest .273/.316/.438 slash line in 136 PA against southpaws this year. Between that production and similar numbers against righties, Flores is batting .249/.319/.438 with 17 homers in 389 total PA in 2021.
After suffering a left hamstring strain on September 2, Flores is back after missing only the minimum 10 days, beating manager Gabe Kapler’s initial expectation that Flores would be out “a couple of weeks.” Hamstring injuries have been a persistent issue for Flores for much of the year, and he also missed 10 days with a right hamstring strain in May.
This team’s depth is absolutely insane. Best bench in baseball
I don’t see the depth your talking about? Giants have few real power threats off the bench. Braves and Dodgers both have big power on the bench that can change a whole game with one swing.
From being a Braves fan I have learned that regular season is one thing and post season is another. People rarely remember or talk about great teams that didn’t go deep into the play offs.
As a baseball fan I am very interested in seeing how well the Giants can handle the postseason
Feel like you didn’t actually do any research at all with this comment because few if any teams have anyone on their bench like Darin Ruf. He’s hitting .281/.401/.541 with 15 HR and a .943 OPS. Not to mention Flores, Duggar, Estrada all would be starting everyday on some teams. Giants have 10 players with 10 HRs or more, lead the NL in HRs and lead MLB in pinch hit HRs.
Eleven with 10 forgot Bryant because of the trade
If you look at the new stats the Braves just past the Giants up for most National league home runs.
Braves have Freeman with 30; Albies with 28; Swanson with 26; Riley with 29; Soler with 23 -10 as a Braves; Duvall with 34 12 as a Braves; Pederson with 16 5 as a Braves not to mention Rosario who has been hurt of the season with past history of several seasons with 20 or more. Any given night the Braves have a bench bat with 1-2 players with more power and homer runs this year than the top giants player
Dodgers have 5 starters with 20 or more home runs. Plus Trea Turner with 21 total.
The giants have overachieved in 2021 I will give them that but they have no where near the power and depth of some of these other teams out there. If you look back to the Braves vs Dodgers last series the Dodgers schuffled their pitching rotation to put their top against the Braves and not the next series with the giants.
“If you look at the new stats the Braves just past the Giants up for most National league home runs.”
Yeah by one homerun to be exact. That’s hardly noteworthy.
Hopper15; it’s actually by 3 home runs now.
The whole point to this whole thing was that the giants don’t have the bench bats like stated that put fear in the opposing pitcher and manager like some teams do. A team like Atlanta on even given night have 1-2 players on the bench with more home runs than the giants top power bat. They don’t have the best depth in baseball like stated.
The power numbers for most of the giants hitters are all career years.
It’s mid-September, the Giants have the best record in baseball, and STILL we have doubters. Haha, ok.
Always happens even during 2010,2012,2014 no one ever believed that the giants would win anything and you would think at least by 2014 they would have some idea. Here we are 7 years later and despite being in the toughest division by far and leading that division for the better part of the year people still think the giants are trash
Like I said and being a Braves fan I know this for sure if the team doesn’t win the World Series or go really deep nobody remembers what they did doing the regular season.
So now the giants will have to win in the post season or this season means nothing.
Yaz, Bryant, Crawford and Belt all have over 20 HR. Posey, Wade and Flores might all reach 20. Your arguments are nonsensical, why don’t you focus on your 76 win Braves team that’s losing in the first round and not compare them to a 93 win team.
Benjamin101677 – I guess that goes for the Braves too, huh? But since SF has lead the majors in wins for almost the entire season, I think a wobbly Braves team fan should be more respectful of what the Giants have accomplished so far.
“The giants have overachieved in 2021 I will give them that but they have no where near the power and depth of some of these other teams out there”
They are literally third in all of baseball with home runs. The depth argument is not only stupid, it’s so laughably wrong.
I went through and compiled the total WAR for each team’s #9 through #13 best hitters. I think this defines depth really well: how much are you getting from the guys who aren’t your “starters”.
Top 5 in order:
1. Rays- 5.2 WAR
2. Giants- 4.8 WAR
3. Brewers- 3.9 WAR
4. Dodgers- 2.7 WAR
5. Astros- 2.6 WAR
They have a ridiculous amount of depth. In fact the Giants #14 through #18 hitters would out produce TEN (10) teams’ 9-13.
To say the Giants don’t have power or depth proves that you should probably stick to coloring books.
I would bet you that the giants get knocked out first round; as you seen when the giants play teams like the Braves and the brewers they loose 3 out of 4 and 2 out of 3. They don’t have the ability to handle a quality team if you see most of there wins and leads in division come from destroying below .500 teams
Pete’s view; what happened when the giants played play off caliber teams? Atlanta took 2 out of 3 a d Brewers took 3 out of 4.
Giants get knocked out first round for sure
Before that stretch they had a winning record against every contender. Your Braves got embarrassed by the Dodgers not long ago they’re going to embarrassed in a few days. Your Braves are a mediocre team playing in the worst division get over yourself and enjoy getting swept in the first round
Winning record against the Astros, Dodgers, A’s, Reds, Mets and Phillies and 3-4 against the Brewers. Congratulations your Braves won a series in Atlanta against the Giants it’s legitimately going to be your highlight of the season
Benjamin101677 – May be. But That’s true for all these teams, but especially a team that can barely hold on to its lead in the weakest NL division. Braves win-loss record makes them the poorest division leader in baseball, by quite a margin. See other people’s replies that specifically quantify how good the Giants have been. I don’t think you’re in a position to gloat.
Hey Benjamin Giants just took the lead back on HRs guess the Braves aren’t good anything again now lol.
Benjamin101677 “it’s actually by 3 home runs now.”
So the Giants hit 4 homeruns tonight. Do you realize how petty you sound.
What a difference a day makes. The Giants have 3 more team home runs this morning than the Braves, I think it’s safe to say they both have adequate power coming off the bench, the Giants just have it spread out among a bit more players.
First game off of the IL, Flores has three hits in his first three at-bats with a home run and three RBI. This has been the Giants’ season. Players making huge contributions up=and-down the roster when needed. They deserve a ton of credit for their consistency. Their clubhouse must be a joy to behold.
Elsewhere, Blake Snell has been removed after 11 pitches with some kind of injury. A terrible break for the Padres as Snell has been lights-out of late.
Your Dodgers play the DBacks for 3 next while the Giants have 4 against the Padres. I think you guys really need to gain ground in the standings there. Really think this comes down to the last series
The Dodgers close the season hosting the Brewers while the Giants entertain the Padres. Snell’s injury could wind up being a major factor, though both teams figure to benefit. The Giants would also host a possible 163rd game by virtue of them beating Buehler to take the season series. If the Dodgers have to win a wildcard game, no complaints. Just win the game to create what could be a playoff series for the ages.
Btw, the Padres have been the worst offensive team in MLB over the last month.
That last series the Dodgers play against the Brewers is an enigma. They’ll probably have everything locked up and might not go 100% that series. I don’t see the Padres just laying down for a division rival no matter what.
Milwaukee is very much in the running for the best overall record.
The Padres have been a strange team to watch this season. Even before things went south, it looked like they weren’t having fun, or, at least, didn’t have the same camaraderie in the dugout. They had been Team Celebration. It’s got to sting to watch Scherzer flirt with perfection on a day when Snell goes down. Gotta wonder what the off-season ramifications might be.
Even with the pre-season hype, I figured the Dodgers would be 10-12 games better than the Padres. Winning 100 games is hard, and my prediction was that the Dodgers would challenge the franchise record of 106 wins. What no one in LA, SD or anyone else anticipated was the Giants being better than either. Compared to the high-profile transactions made by the Dodgers and Padres, the Giants’ roster moves were boring to most fans. But they were winning moves. Watching Kapler manipulate that roster reminds me a whole lot of Gil Hodges in 1969. I live in the Philly area and thought Phils fans were wrong making Gabe their scapegoat.
Good grief. Austin Adams just hit his third batter of the inning and now has 23 in 48 innings this season.
I’m not sure what you mean by everything locked up Gmen? There’s the Brew Crew, Dodgers and Giants eyeing for the best record in the league. I don’t see anything being a lock for the Dodgers or Giants until the last game is played IMO. With the last series being Brewers and Friars, every game is going to be a grind.
Adams needs to be benched. He doesn’t belong in the bigs. He’ll seriously injure someone.
@Balk
There’s a pretty good chance, when the Brewers enter their final set vs. the Dodgers, that they won’t be in a position to win the best record in the NL. They could be, of course, but if they aren’t, their primary objective would be to set their rotation for the playoffs, and get everybody a little work to stay sharp, while keeping their guys as fresh as possible. That could mean pulling a starting pitcher early, pulling line-up regulars early, etc., etc.
The bottom line is that winning those games could well become of secondary importance to the Brewers – not that they wouldn’t be happy to win all three, of course. And that could end up being disadvantageous for the Giants, if they’re still neck and neck with the Dodgers for the division crown (a distinct possibility) – especially if the Padres (that’s who Giants face in their final set) are still in the wildcard race – or having nothing to win or lose, would still like to play spoiler against a division rival.
Why do you think he pitched the ninth inning? To send a “message” for a Padres team that has plum run out of answers. Their clubhouse must be a disaster.
Last weekend could be interesting the line up the brewers put out as it appears it will be the brewers and the Braves will face off in the first round what line up the brewers put out
Cey: I don’t think Adam’s hits the players on purpose, which only makes that HBP number more shocking
I don’t think it’s intentional too because he’s a slider guy. Usually intent it’s your fireballer throwing heat
The Padres really scare me as the team can’t be as bad as they are playing someone’s got to get hot on their team. The giants than get the Braves this coming weekend. I think this is the time for the Dodgers to gain ground if they are ever going do it
Padres came into the season with all the hype and were supposed to be where Giants are. The front office must be going berserk seeing their decline when they need to be firming up their position to reach the playoffs.
As a Giants fan, the team that worries me most in the playoffs is the Brewers. I think Milwaukee has an excellent shot at going to and winning the WS.
People keeping talking about the Dodgers rotation and idk I take Milwaukee’s over there’s. While Scherzer right now is better than any of the Brewers pitchers literally all 3 of Burnes, Woodruff and Peralta are basically as good or better than Buehler and then You have Lauer as the 4? Serious 90s Braves vibes right there
The first week of April I put 1k on the Giants at 80-1 to win the WS, I worry about every team the Giants will face in the post season.