The Giants are banged up this spring. The club released a handful of injury updates regarding a few notable names on Saturday. The highest-profile player on the list was Rafael Devers, who is dealing with a left hamstring injury. The slugger will be sidelined for the next two to four days, as relayed by multiple reporters, including Maria Guardado of MLB.com.
Devers has suited up for three Spring Training games so far. He last played on Thursday against the Rockies. Every Devers appearance this spring has been at first base. The position was a point of contention with his former team, but he’ll head into his first full season with San Francisco as the top option at the cold corner.
Harrison Bader will not hit for the next two days as he recovers from a right thumb contusion. The outfielder was pulled from Friday’s game after one at-bat due to the injury. Assuming a return to full health, Bader will lock down center field for the Giants.
Drew Gilbert is working through a left shoulder impingement. The issue will keep him from throwing for the next five to seven days. Gilbert’s absence could impact the race for the fourth outfielder spot. Luis Matos has spent decent stints with the Giants in each of the past three seasons, but he’s being pressed for a bench spot by Gilbert, Will Brennan, and non-roster invitee Jared Oliva, to name a few.
In the bullpen, Erik Miller and Joel Peguero are both progressing well. Miller is dealing with lower back tightness. He’s throwing from flat ground for now, with the expectation he’ll get back on the mound in a few days. Peguero is battling hamstring tightness. He completed a live bullpen and is expected to get back into Spring Training games next week.
Elsewhere around the division, the Padres are looking to expand Sung-Mun Song‘s versatility. The infielder played first base, second base, and third base during his nine-year KBO career. San Diego is expected to begin working him out at shortstop and in left field, per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. Despite never playing either position as a professional, the Padres are confident Song will pick them up quickly. “We’ve just got to get him on the practice field doing those things,” Stammen said. “And then we can put him in a game.”
San Diego doesn’t have an obvious spot in the lineup for Song, so getting him comfortable at several spots will help him contribute in multiple areas. The 29-year-old is coming off two stellar seasons in KBO, including a 25/25 campaign with a 151 wRC+ this past year.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Raffy needs better conditioning if he’s going to avoid all the injuries that have been plaguing him at a young age.
He did alright last year, with 163 games played.
Hank – He slumped because he was dealing with a groin strain and back injury when he first joined the Giants.
A healthy Devers can easily put up at least a .900 OPS
Games played starting in 2019
156
57(COVID)
156
141
153
138
163!
601-729 PA except covid season
It doesn’t get a whole lot more consistent than that.
dam – It’s a credit to his willingness to play hurt for the team, rather than sitting out to protect his stats.
He was injured most of 2020, 2022, 2024 and 2025.
Raffy comes into every season out of shape and fat and gets back into playing shape during the first 2-3 months of the year. Gets by because of his god given talent. Not gonna cut it as he ages. Will have to work out in the offseason.
Sean – Yesterday during the game Joe Castig brought up the fact Raffy and Xander are extremely close. That clown Flemming insisted if Xander was still on the Red Sox he would have convinced Raffy to play first base when he was asked. How dumb is that? So he thinks Xander and Raffy stopped talking to each other after Xander left?
Players are not like fans, they don’t turn their backs on former teammates. There’s no doubt in my mind Xander talked to Raffy about the situation. The difference between Xander and Ortiz is that Xander didn’t throw Raffy under the bus like Ortiz did. That’s why Raffy stopped responding to Ortiz’s texts.
Thumbs up on “clown Flemming”,Fever.
He’d rather be calling college football. Try to catch him trying to call golf. Brings absolutely nothing to the broadcast.
Non – Yeah and he’s got an arrogant entitlement demeanor as well. His behavior on Twitter, lying about signings and then posting curse words directed at Sox fans about the inevitable justified backlash, absolutely screams arrogant, egotistical and immature.
Of all the people to replace a classy HOF legend like Joe Castig, Flemming was the worst possible.
Ortiz is employed by the Red Sox, in a laissez-faire position that can easily be vanquished – that’s why Ortiz had to distance himself from Devers.
Sounds like a hater creating a narrative
dam – Yes without question Flemming is a hater. He never passes up an opportunity to bash Devers.
x.com/BostonStrong_34/status/1942551775455695179
So glad Clark put Flemming in his place.
Looks like Will Clark decided to cover for Devers after Devers left Clark standing at 1B pre-game when the Red Sox were the visiting team in SF. I’m guessing Devers couldn’t bring himself to work on playing 1B in front of his former teammates that he refused to move to 1B for.
“He’s going to hit home runs, of course he is,” Flemming said of Devers. “They don’t yet know what is going to happen with the player. I was there the second day, Will Clark was there to work on ground balls with him at first base, and Raffy didn’t show up. So, that’s the person these guys have been dealing with for a long time.”
Is it not bad character to stand someone up? I don’t see a problem with Flemming reporting it.
nbcsportsboston.com/mlb/boston-red-sox/rafael-deve…
Suit, Devers has plenty of apologists to cover for him, and, even longtime retired vets of a team will go to some lengths to help control controversy and give some cover to current players. Happens in every organization, up to a point.
10 years from now we will see what happens with devers. Maybe last year served as a wake-up call, and, Posey was able to straighten him out a bit. Or, maybe not, and the giants will have a very angelsesque contract dragging behind them.
Time will tell. Im just glad he’s out of Boston after his behavior. Devers wore out his welcome, but in a much worse way than Manny finally did.
GaSox – I was a big Manny fan, but him shoving a 64-year-old to the ground because he wanted more comp tickets was far worse than Raffy telling Breslow to go pound sand.
And that incident was a precursor to the domestic violence charges that came just a few years later.
Fever, Manny did more than shove the team attendant around, and, physical violence of the like is never acceptable or to be diminished either. But it was one of his final straws.
But, Devers also did more than just tell Breslow to pound sand over his several month public temper tantrum of insubordination and disrespect for all levels of the team- ownership, operational management, coaches, and players.
Both players went so far beyond the lines of acceptable conduct, in their own ways, that they need to go.
Devers has a new start. I hope he makes the best of it. Manny got a new start, got caught with PEDs, and, we’ve all heard about roid rage so who knows what hormonal imbalances that led him down regarding impulse control. (Again, not an excuse for manny, just saying he had a chance to clean up and didnt.
MasterBader needs to switch hands.
Now that he earned the contract, he’ll be back to the IL again frequently.
Sure, Hank, because he obviously doesn’t like playing. Never displays any emotion, especially not joy…
So many fans love to rag on players, with two of them getting trashed in these comments.
Stick to hammering, Hankie.
The Giants, Guardians, Royals and Angels (have I left anyone out)…owners doing little in the off-season to appreciably improve their teams. I wonder if they are saving $$$ in preparation for a 2027 owners lockout?
I’d take Giants out of that list. Devers was the big acquistion for the 2026-2027 offseason, it just came early. That money wasnt budgeted last offseason, they had already given $182M to Adames.
Adding to that. SF was actually in on a number of top free agents over the past handful of years in terms of contracts and money. But those players decided to sign elsewhere.
Which is why they traded for Devers in the first place. You have to start building something for players desire signing with your team.
Giants have signed quite a few top free agents recently, Smurf.
Please enlighten me on who they are
And that’s Papa Smurf to you
As a Red Sox fan, Im so glad Devers is someone else’s problem.
Agree on Devers the diva…
Devers is a great left handed hitter.
It is difficult when you are the best player on the team your entire career, to lose some of your invincibility, to be disheartened, it can take a great player out of the game.
He has to work harder than ever at being a great hitter, and at keeping his heart strong.
Giants have a good team, Devers is a big part of their lineup, he has to focus on his work and his opportunity, whether it be at DH or at 1B.
Parks Harbor could get a call this season and be in the mix with Eldridge and Devers at 1B/DH and the Giants will have a jam up in some way. The Giants have both Eldridge and Harbor taking reps in the OF to keep 1B open for Devers.
It’s going to be a challenge for Tony Vitellonto get everybody at bats but if Devers is hitting, he is too good to leave out of the lineup. Eldridge and Harbor haven’t hit in the big leagues.
Signing Arraez was huge for the Giants. He is motivated and is a good clubhouse guy. In some way, Arraez creates this internal competition amongst the Giants hitters because he is going out there to hit .350 and wants to win the batting title. It is going to rub off on Devers and have him focused more on hitting than on the defensive side of the ball, which is a good thing because all the pressures of having to prove himself defensively are dragging him down some.
With Arraez in the fold, it becomes a challenge again to be the best hitter on the team.
Lining up next to Arraez at 2B will be good for Devers to because Arraez is going to be locked in on proving himself as a capable defender. He is the perfect fit and the perfect for the Giants.
It’s no challenge at all for most of them to be better hitters than the slap-hitting Arraez. Devers is easily miles better as a hitter. We don’t rank them off of their batting averages anymore, but from their overall hitting, power and on-base skills being most important.
Idk, just feels like a very weak defense on the right side of the infield… but they’ll probably outhit the errors.
Devers look just fine at first base after he joined the Giants,
I think that’s a good thing, sacrifice a little defense for the offense. Arraez and Devers both looking to prove themselves defensively, in some way it takes the pressure off just a bit, having another player in the same boat as you, it will help both relax.
You could say having a great defensive 2B is a better fit, but I like the way those two lineup next to each other, they seem like a good tandem.
Batting average and HRs get you bragging rights on the bench, bWAR doesn’t.
Breslow Pitching Factory —
As a Giants fan I’ll willingly take the “Devers problem.”
Pete’sView:
Great! It worked for both sides. Lets hope his lack of conditioning every off-season doesnt catch up to him.
Is Matos really being pressed for a bench spot by Gilbert? Matos has better MLB numbers, better MiL numbers, and better ST numbers so far. Gilbert has options left while Matos doesn’t. Unless they’re planning to move Matos, which would be selling low, I’d be greatly surprised if they go with Gilbert to break camp, and expose Matos to waivers.
Probably, but I think a lot depends on what Matos shows—especially with Gilbert out for the next week. (Also, Matos being RH helps him in this situation given the roster.)
Jean: I think the next couple weeks will give us some clarity in the outfield. I see Matos winning a spot on the opening day roster. But he needs to seize the chance. I hope Posey keeps Vitello from keeping Gilbert just because of Tennessee. With the options you mentioned I hope Gilbert bounces back and fourth between AAA and MLB.
Completely agree. Matos has to make the most of his chances this season. My point was, Matos may not make the ML roster, but at this point, I doubt that it would because Gilbert was the one forcing Matos off the roster.
I guess it’s possible Matos and Gilbert are both here on opening day too. Lots of OF’s as options. Hopefully McCray keeps being pitch selective because he has lots of tools. Bericoto is opening some eyes too.
I’d be surprised if Gilbert is. Encarnacion is also out of options. So I could see the Giants starting Gilbert at Sac, along with McCray, to get them regular playing time. Then maybe see what Encarnacion can provide, and at the same time see if either Gilbert or McCray can force him off the roster.
It doesn’t help that both Matos and Encarnacion are RHHs, and are out of options, while both Gilbert and McCray, who have options remaining, are LHHs.
Raffi did not show up to Giants camp “in the best shape of his life.” Weight gain, replete with double chin, was noticeable. Dude is girthy.
Am I worried? Nope. He’s a gamer and always posts. Rest him as much as needed this spring. Devers will be ready for opening day.
Just hope that going forward, maybe Raffi incorporates some fitness and diet into his offseason. Speaking from experience, the older you are, the harder it is to get the weight off.
Not having seen Devers, I can’t say what he looks like. But, media reports had Devers showing up to camp early and in good shape. Unattributed quotes said things like he was “carrying less” and “traveling lighter”. Another went even farther to say he “looked like a different person”. Vitello noted that Devers put in significant work leading up to camp. A guy with his build is never going to look slim.
How did Maria Guardado get a left hamstring strain?