The Giants placed infielder Thairo Estrada on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to May 26) due to a left wrist sprain. Infielder David Villar was recalled from Triple-A to take Estrada’s place on San Francisco’s roster.
Estrada has been dealing with the injury for a few days, as The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly writes that Estrada hurt himself during a swing in Wednesday’s 7-1 loss to the Twins. After trying to tough it out on Thursday, Estrada was out of the lineup on Friday and will now need at least a 10-day hiatus to recover. The good news is that an MRI revealed just inflammation and no structural damage in Estrada’s wrist.
Estrada has quietly been one of the better all-around players in baseball this season, as only 16 players have a higher fWAR than his 1.9 total. Beyond hitting .301/.345/.466 with six homers and stealing 13 of 16 bases, Estrada’s versatility has also been a weapon for the Giants, as he got a lot of time at shortstop when Brandon Crawford was on the injured list earlier this season. Most of the time, Estrada has settled in as San Francisco’s regular second baseman, and he has also made a few appearances in left field. MLBTR’s Anthony Franco profiled Estrada in greater depth earlier this month, and how the Giants have gotten a ton of return out of a rather unheralded player since acquiring Estrada from the Yankees for cash considerations early in the 2021 season.
There’s no easy way to replicate Estrada’s production over even a 10-day stint, and given the Giants’ penchant for platoons, they probably won’t turn to a single player to replace Estrada. Villar, Brett Wisely, Casey Schmitt, and Wilmer Flores could all pitch in at second base, though Schmitt has been seeing an increasing amount of time at shortstop in Crawford’s place.
He needs to drop that Thairo first name anyway.
He’s been around awhile.
?????
Look up tyro.
Aaah, I get it now. Thanks.
Oh man what a great start to the year. An altuve start. Still along way to go. But he has been an excellent second basemen. Defense. Not bad too.
Thairo’s been excellent this year. The silver lining is there’s no structural issue. And Villar gets another shot.
Wisely gets more action too
Hopefully we see Schmitt and Villar play a clean game at 2B (obviously they’re both more than capable) and Villar’s bat gets right. Will be interesting to see how Kap manages Davis’ playing time now too.
Davis is the everyday 3rd baseman, or occasionally DH when he gets a “day off.”Crawford is the odd man out at this point.
Crawford won’t be the odd man out until Farhan and Kap make it clear. I think it’ll be a while before they can do it without being crucified by the fan base but he is already slowly fading to the background.
Think they’ve made it pretty clear considering he hasn’t been getting much PT, including yesterday when they were up 15-1 they still didn’t put Craw in. He’ll get a pity 1 game start a series but it’s no coincidence this team has taken off once they started sitting Crawford and playing Schmitt everyday
near 50-yr fan of the giants. not speaking for the fan base, but we do need to completely close the chapter of the “misfit dynasty” and let the farhan-era commence fully. seeing schmitt, bailey, and webb mix with solid pickups like disco, davis, and conforto is heartening. plus, the coaching staff getting individuals like haniger and taylor rogers back on track shows this can be sustained. uh, maybe craw “re-develops” creaky knees that lands him on the 60-day i.l.? 😉
Almost 60 year Giants fan. Crawford is my favorite player of all time. Loved his defense and he’s had some really good years with the bat. But my favorite thing about him is he’s a great teammate and great for the clubhouse. All that said, I was always concerned about the Giants finding a good replacement who could play defense. That has finally started taking care of itself. Schmitt is a great defensive player and has looked great on offense thus far albeit he needs to be a little more selective at the plate. He did finally get his 1st walk today. Kapler has had talks with Crawford about what things will look like moving forward. Crawford has taken Schmitt under his wing as well as Wisely. Total professional and he’ll be great as a backup shortstop and mentor for the rest of the season. I believe he’ll retire at year’s end and go down as one of the greatest Giant’s players. It’s a little weird not seeing him at shortstop. He’s still got some clutch hits left as the season moves along. We’ll see how the season goes on but they’re playing well right now and that is with 4 rookies in the lineup at times.
mattwild1 — He is but they won’t DFA him, and shouldn’t out of respect. But clearly he’s no longer the glove he used to be, nor can he hit; his swing is almost always late.
I just don’t see how you can sit or send down a talent like Schmitt. Or Estrada. Or Sabol (Rule 5 pick). Or Bailey. What do you do with Bart when he’s ready to play? (I wouldn’t send Wisely down, or for that matter Johnson).
Does Joey still have options?
I have you both beat, I’ve been a Giants fan win or lose, this will be my 61st year. It’s time to let the kids play and have some fun. I’ve seen many hot shot prospects come and go, but these recent call ups look good to me and should stick. Bailey behind the plate controls the game and I love his defense, plus he’s hit some. Joey Bart needs to go to AAA and see if he can turn it around. If not deal him at the trade deadline. Either way you won’t get much for him. He’s not the answer behind the plate. Sorry to say !!!
I’ve been a fan for eighty something I forget what I was going to say.