Giants Place Tyler Fitzgerald On 10-Day Injured List

The Giants placed infielder Tyler Fitzgerald on the 10-day injured list earlier today due to a left rib fracture. The club called up infielder Brett Wisely from Triple-A Sacramento to replace Fitzgerald on the active roster.

Fitzgerald, 27, broke out in a big way down the stretch last year in the first run of regular playing time of his career. After becoming an everyday player after the All-Star break, Fitzgerald slashed .281/.333/.519 with ten steals, 15 doubles, and 13 homers in just 255 plate appearances. That impressive combination of power and speed, along with his ability to play solid defense up the middle, was enough to earn him a regular role despite a 31.4% strikeout rate. Fitzgerald played shortstop late last year for the Giants, but has moved to second base thanks to the club’s decision to sign Willy Adames.

So far this year, Fitzgerald’s offense has been a mixed bag. He’s managed to cut his strikeout rate down to just 22.2% in 90 trips to the plate this year while actually slightly increasing his walk rate, though he’s hitting for much less power with a meager 4.8% barrel rate. Overall, he’s hitting .284/.341/.432 (118 wRC+) this year. That’s a solid figure, though it’s elevated by a .356 BABIP. Whether that’s sustainable remains to be seen, but that question will have to wait for at least the time being now that he’s headed for the shelf.

It seems as though Fitzgerald’s initial injury may have happened almost a week ago. It was reported by Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle on Saturday that Fitzgerald was scratched from the lineup after suffering a chest contusion the day prior, but after sitting for a couple of days he returned to the lineup. That changed this afternoon, as Fitzgerald told reporters (including John Shea of the San Francisco Standard) that he underwent an MRI today that revealed the rib fracture, prompting his placement on the shelf. Fitzgerald suggested that he was feeling the fracture when swinging a bat and as such will be down for a couple of days without baseball activity to rest up.

With that being said, it seems as though Fitzgerald is hoping for a relatively brief absence. The infielder told Shea that he hopes to be back with the Giants after just two weeks, which would be just barely over the minimum stay of ten days on the injured list. Whether Fitzgerald will be able to hit that target or not remains to be seen, of course, but San Francisco would surely love to have him back as quickly as possible amid their efforts to keep the brilliant 19-12 start they’ve managed to put together going in an extremely competitive duel not only for the NL West but also the three NL Wild Card spots.

In the meantime, the Giants will likely turn to a combination of Wisely and Christian Koss at the keystone. Koss, 27, made his MLB debut earlier this year and so far has hit just .217/.280/.217 with a 30.8% strikeout rate during his time in the majors. Those lackluster numbers have come in just 28 plate appearances, however, and Koss hit quite well at Triple-A last year with a 134 wRC+ in 88 games. Joining Koss in the mix for starts at second is Wisely, who hit .238/.278/.345 (75 wRC+) across 91 games in a part-time role with the Giants last year. He’s spent the 2025 season at Triple-A so far, where his .235/.325/.431 slash line in 118 trips to the plate has been exactly league average (100 wRC+).