The Giants announced to reporters, including Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com, a few health updates on players in camp. One of those updates was that outfielder Austin Slater has right elbow neuritis and will not throw or hit for a week, after which he will be re-evaluated. Slated has yet to appear in a game this spring after being scratched from the club’s opener.
At this point, it’s unclear how long the club expects Slater to be out of action. It will surely depend on how things progress over the next week of inactivity. At that point, there will only be about three weeks until Opening Day. Even if the week of rest gets Slater back to health, he will have a short ramp-up before the regular season gets underway.
Slater, 30, has emerged as a key piece of the Giants’ roster in recent years. Over the past three seasons, he’s hit 24 home runs and stolen 35 bases. He struck out in 26.5% of his plate appearances but also drew walks at an 11.4% clip. His .256/.353/.428 batting line in that time amounts to a 118 wRC+, indicating he’s been 18% better than league average.
Defensively, he’s spent time in all three outfield spots but has primarily been deployed up the middle over the past two seasons, with advanced defensive metrics split on his effectiveness there. Defensive Runs Saved is the most bearish, giving him -9 last year. Ultimate Zone Rating also had him in the negative range but Outs Above Average comes in at +2 over 2021 and 2022 combined.
The Giants should have a different outfield mix this year, as they signed both Mitch Haniger and Michael Conforto, in addition to re-signing Joc Pederson. Those three were likely going to cover the corners and the designated hitter slot, leaving the right-handed-hitting Slater and lefty Mike Yastrzemski to platoon in center. Slater has been noticeably better against southpaws in his career, producing a line of .285/.377/.468 for a wRC+ of 132. Against righties, his line is .227/.313/.336 and a wRC+ of 82. As for Yaz, he’s hit .247/.334/.485 against righties for a 120 wRC+ in his career but has a line of .227/.303/.406 and a 93 wRC+ against lefties.
If Slater needs to miss some time, it will leave Yaz alone in center. That should be fine in the short-term, even if it makes it harder for the club to shield him from lefties. But it would leave the Giants thin at the position overall, since Luis González is out with a lower back strain and won’t be ready for Opening Day. Conforto and Haniger have some center field experience but neither since 2019. Given they’ve each dealt with significant injuries since then, it’s unlikely the club would want to throw them into the more-demanding position. Pederson also has experience there but grades as a poor fielder even in a corner. Heliot Ramos is on the 40-man but struggled badly at the plate last year. Bryce Johnson is in camp as a non-roster invitee though he also didn’t hit much last year either.
If the club ultimately deems it necessary to look outside the organization for some extra center field depth, players like Albert Almora and Jackie Bradley Jr. are still available in free agency. While Bradley hits left-handed, Almora’s right-handed bat could potentially platoon with Yaz.
Giants better hope Haniger doesn’t smash another testicle or he’ll be joining Conforto on the overpaid IL all year.
It seems that the plan is, when Conforto is in left field, Haniger will be in right field. And when Conforto goes on the DL, Haniger can go with him to keep him company.
Kepler does a fine job enforcing the “buddy system”
Who’s Kepler?
They hired him as manager after they fired Copernicus.
Giants GM Galileo, considers him a star in the making.
Is it true Hanigers walk up music in Frisco will be Tchaikovsky’s ‘ The Nut Cracker’ ?
Salty Mets fan?
Time for Ramos to step up and seize the opportunity. This could be your shot kid. Go get em !
Or Vaun Brown! He might be next
Great opportunity for Piscotty, who apparently is healthy and is impressing in camp so far.
Piscotty is not a CF, and nothing more than a retread. Better to let Ramos (or Matos, the better glove) give it a shot.
Piscotty ? Haha is that still playing ??
Lorenzo Cain is a centerfield capable righty and was a 2.2 WAR player as recently as 2021. He might be worth a MILB flyer if he still wants to play.
Any of our current prospects before that, please.
If it turned out that Slater needed to go on the IL, they do have another option on hand – Luis Matos. As a hitter, he’s not yet ready for prime-time, but he’s RH bat who’s already an elite defender in CF – and most importantly, they added him to the 40 man this year. As a temporary replacement, he’d check some boxes.
An even more interesting (and advanced) choice could be Vaun Brown, except of course, he’s not (yet) on the roster.
There is more depth in this position that is close to ready.
Really hope one of the kids can step up and impress. SFG tends to season these guys in the minors longer than most clubs.
A good quick fix would be Kike Hernandez. He plays a plus centerfield, a plus second base and a plus shortstop and is a right handed batter. He’s coming off a crummy year and is making 10mil this year. Seems like the Red Sox would move him and eat much of his salary. He always had a great clutch bat with the Dodgers and was great in 2021 with the Red Sox.
Dunno how good he was anywhere else, but was certainly a Giant killer. For that reason I’m out.
He was a Giants killer. But the Giants don’t have a back up plan if either Estrada or Crawford gets hurt. The need for a good back-up middle infielder is the most glaring need on their roster IMO.
Plus they need to sign another lefty reliever.
The Giants actually do have a backup plan, should either of those guys get hurt. LH hitting middle infielders Brett Wisely and Isan Diaz are on the 40 man and the Giants like them both.
So do I, and I think at least one of them could get significant playing time by next year – if not this year.
And Wisely, in particular, looks like a Major League player. Better bat, more pop than Diaz.
Nobody has mentioned Sabol. He is more of an OF than catcher. Left handed yes but if SF wants to carry the rule 5 pick injuries make that more possible.
Sabol has looked excellent so far and they need to keep him on the 40 man. This could end up being a very nice pickup for them.
Agree on Sabol. With all catchers in camp going deep early on it’s going to be a hard choice as to who gets the roster spot. Sabols versatility as an outfielder, and rule 5 status may make the difference.
I think there’s a realistic scenario where JD Davis who literally has no platoon split ends up manning 1B most days with Villar hopefully holding down 3B then Sabol gets part time DH duties while playing C2 and that may be the overall best case scenario for the lineup at large.
And they can’t just keep Sabol on the 40-man roster. He must be kept on the 26-man active roster or he must be sent back to the Reds (?).
And I realize I basically discarded Wade but I think the outfield will be a platooning and injury plagued mess (hope I’m wrong) and he will sadly be on the grass a lot more than on the dirt.
And he’s a LH hitter.
I just hope they don’t decide to platoon Sabol and Bart at C that would be pretty crushing for Bart. I can see Sabol earning lineup time but if it’s at the expense of Bart who clearly needs as many at bats as possible right now I think it would be a tremendous mistake. Wade looks like the potential odd man out if Sabol and Davis are consistent.