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Giants Designate Neil Ramirez For Assignment

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The Giants have designated reliever Neil Ramirez for assignment and selected the contract of fellow reliever Bryan Morris from Triple-A, according to a club announcement.

Ramirez inked a minor league deal with the Giants over the winter and then made the team’s Opening Day bullpen. Things didn’t go well for the 27-year-old, though, as he threw 10 1/3 innings with the Giants this month and allowed 15 earned runs on 16 hits. However, Ramirez did post a lofty strikeout total (18) while limiting walks (four). His issues preventing runs this season have stemmed from a somewhat high home run-to-fly ball ratio (13.3 percent). The long ball was an even bigger problem last year for Ramirez, who spent time with the Cubs, Twins and Brewers and allowed homers on 21.1 percent of fly balls, leading to a 6.00 ERA across 24 innings.

In 57 2/3 frames with the Cubs from 2014-15, Ramirez only surrendered HRs at a 4.3 percent clip. Thanks in part to that stinginess, and a 10.61 K/9 and 3.59 BB/9, he recorded a 1.87 ERA during those two seasons. Ramirez has long had difficulty generating ground balls, however, as the 2007 first-round pick has done so just 28.3 percent of the time in 92 career big league innings.

Like Ramirez, the 30-year-old Morris signed a minors pact with the Giants during the offseason. Although he has registered below-average strikeout and walk rates per nine (6.4 and 3.77), the former Pirate and Marlin owns an impressive 2.80 ERA in 280 innings. He has helped his cause with a 58.6 percent grounder rate.

Buster Posey Not Changing Positions Anytime Soon

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  • Giants catcher Buster Posey has long been a workhorse behind the plate, and while moving the 30-year-old to a different position could possibly help prolong his effectiveness, it’s not on the team’s agenda, details Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com. “When you have a guy that’s led us to three titles, a lot of it is because of his preparation and guidance of the starting rotation and the bullpen,” said general manager Bobby Evans. “I think it distinguishes him from other positions — and other guys. My mindset is we’re a better team with Buster back there, and as long as we can keep him back there, we want to do it.” Posey wouldn’t fight a position change down the line, saying that “it’s about winning ballgames,” but he notes that “there’s value in having a good hitter behind the plate and being able to put a bat at first base as well.” The Giants plan to start Posey 115 to 120 times at catcher and in 15 to 20 games at first/designated hitter, per Crasnick,  potentially putting him on track for a sixth straight 140-plus-game season.

Giants Release Ricky Romero

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Saturday’s minor moves:

  • The Giants’ Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento has released left-hander Ricky Romero, who first joined the organization in 2015. Romero combined for just 30 2/3 innings with the Giants at two minor league levels, including 14 2/3 frames of 6.75 ERA pitching with Sacramento this season. The 32-year-old had been a highly effective starter with the Blue Jays from 2009-11, a 613-inning span in which he logged a 3.60 ERA, 7.24 K/9, 3.54 BB/9 and a 54.6 percent ground-ball rate. That output led the Jays to give Romero a five-year, $30.1MM contract in 2011, but his performance fell off drastically the next season and he has thrown just 7 1/3 major league frames since. Romero underwent elbow surgery in 2012, perhaps contributing to his on-field woes, and Toronto released him in 2015.

Giants Place Brandon Crawford On 10-Day DL

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The Giants have announced that they’ve reinstated shortstop Brandon Crawford from the bereavement list and placed him on the 10-day disabled list with a right groin strain, retroactive to Wednesday.

Crawford left Tuesday’s game due to the groin strain, which he experienced while running the bases. The team then recalled fellow infielder Kelby Tomlinson to take his place on the active roster. Rookie Christian Arroyo has started in Crawford’s place.

Crawford had already been scheduled to leave the club on Wednesday to attend a family funeral, so he has effectively served three of the ten days required for a stint on the DL. There has been no official word on the severity of his injury, although he would, obviously, be able to return quickly if it turned out to be minor.

Crawford was batting .263/.284/.434 in the early going. He has been one of the Giants’ top players in each of the last two seasons, posting a combined fWAR of 10.3 in 2015 and 2016 while batting .273/.335/.431 with outstanding defense.

Madison Bumgarner Won’t Require Surgery

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APRIL 28: Bumgarner will indeed not require surgery, but he’s expected to be out for quite some time, as Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News reports (Twitter links). With some “partial ligament tears” in the AC joint, it is indeed a Grade 2 sprain that will require about two months of rehabilitation followed by a three-or-four-week buildup on the mound.

APRIL 25: Initial evaluations on Madison Bumgarner, who suffered bruised ribs and a shoulder sprain last week in a dirt bike accident, are fairly positive, per Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News (Twitter links). Bumgarner’s injured shoulder won’t require surgery and has calmed down to the point where he could begin rehab work on it in the next four to five days, Baggarly adds. While that all sounds encouraging, Bumgarner’s layoff will still be considerable; Baggarly notes that he could be ready to begin throwing off a mound in about two months’ time, and he’ll of course need to then build up enough arm strength to rejoin the rotation.

All told, that timeline seems to suggest that Bumgarner won’t be back in the Giants’ rotation until at least mid-July. Of course, that timeline is dependent both on how his shoulder responds to rehab work and on how lengthy of a rehab assignment he’ll require once he returns to the mound. More clarity on Bumgarner’s timeline may soon become available, it seems, as Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that the Giants will give an official diagnosis on Bumgarner tomorrow.

“He’s going to start some light work,” manager Bruce Bochy told reporters (link via Schulman). “It’s going to be slow at first, nothing major. Things have calmed down a little. There’ll be no surgery or anything. We’re going to rehab this.”

[Related: San Francisco Giants Depth Chart]

The Giants’ rotation without its ace still appears solid, albeit unspectacular, as nominal No. 2 starter Johnny Cueto would be the top arm in most rotations around the league. Cueto will be followed by Jeff Samardzija, Matt Moore, Matt Cain and Ty Blach for the time being, though it’s certainly possible that top Giants prospect Tyler Beede eventually forces his way into the big league rotation mix. That group faces an uphill battle in helping the Giants stay afloat in the National League West, however; San Francisco enters play tonight with just a 7-13 record, and two-plus months without one of the game’s very best pitchers clearly hampers the team’s ability to dig out of that early hole.

On a related note, it seems that the Giants got a bit of good news regarding another member of the rotation. Schulman notes that an MRI on Cain’s ailing hamstring came back clean. The veteran right-hander is expected to make his next scheduled start — a Saturday outing against the Padres.

Span's MRI Reveals No Severe Injury

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  • The initial MRI on Denard Span’s shoulder revealed no serious injuries to the Giants center fielder (Twitter links via Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle and Chris Haft of MLB.com). Span, who has already been placed on the 10-day disabled list, said that his shoulder was in too much pain yesterday to even get through the first attempt at an MRI (via Schulman). Manager Bruce Bochy told reporters earlier today that the expectation is that Span will miss more than the minimum 10 days on the disabled list (Twitter link via Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News).

Giants Outright Chris Marrero

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  • First baseman/left fielder Chris Marrero has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Sacramento by the Giants, the team announced earlier today. Marrero, 28, broke camp as part of a left-field platoon with Jarrett Parker but struggled to a .132/.171/.211 batting line through 41 plate appearances. The former first-round pick (Nationals, 2006) had a strong year with the Red Sox’ Triple-A affiliate in 2016 and delivered a huge performance in Spring Training. That output clearly didn’t carry over into the regular season, but given the uncertainty surrounding the Giants’ left field mix at present, Marrero could resurface later in the year if he performs well in Sacramento. The Giants noted that Marrero will be joining their Sacramento affiliate tomorrow.

Giants Select Contract Of Michael Morse, Place Denard Span On DL

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5:21pm: The Giants have moved Parker to the 60-day disabled list to create a spot on the 40-man roster for Morse. Additionally, center fielder Denard Span has been placed on the 10-day disabled list. Brandon Crawford, meanwhile, has been placed on the bereavement list, and Kelby Tomlinson has been recalled from Triple-A.

5:02pm: The Giants have selected the contract of first baseman/outfielder Michael Morse, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). There’s no word on a corresponding move for Morse just yet, though the 40-man roster is currently full. One obvious solution would be to move Madison Bumgarner or Jarrett Parker the 60-day disabled list, as each could be out for two months or more following their recent injuries.

The 35-year-old Morse saw just eight plate appearances in the Majors in 2016 and hasn’t hit much since the 2014 campaign — a season which he spent with the Giants en route their most recent World Series victory. Morse slugged at a .276/.339/.475 clip for the Giants in ’14, which led to a two-year deal with the Marlins. However, Morse was unable to live up to that $16MM price tag, hitting a combined .224/.303/.325 in the 2015-16 seasons combined.

Morse had a nice Spring Training with the Giants, though, hitting .258/.343/.516 through 14 games before a hamstring injury sidelined him near the end of camp. He’s only appeared in six minor league games with the Giants thus far, but he’ll seemingly be added to the roster in hopes of bolstering the big league club’s left field production (either by manning left field himself or by handling first-base duties while Brandon Belt shifts to the outfield grass). To date, Giants left fielders are hitting a combined .131/.207/.205 on the season, and the Opening Day starter, Parker, will be out upwards of eight weeks after suffering a broken clavicle.

Giants, Brewers Have Discussed Braun In Past

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  • The Giants and Brewers have previously had conversations about a Ryan Braun trade, writes Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News in his latest Giants mailbag column, though Baggarly doesn’t envision San Francisco making any notable splashes in the left field department. According to Baggarly, the Brewers sought some salary relief in addition to well-regarded prospects, and the Giants weren’t willing to meet their price. He adds that the Giants would probably be interested in Leonys Martin if he were to become available for free and could be stashed in Triple-A (i.e. if the Mariners release him rather than trade him following his weekend DFA), but a claim of Martin and the remaining $4.2MM on his salary isn’t likely in Baggarly’s eyes. The entire column addresses roster-related topics, including Jae-gyun Hwang’s timeline, Christian Arroyo’s development and potential alignments if Brandon Crawford requires any type of notable absence. I’d recommend that Giants fans and NL West followers give it a full read.

Brandon Crawford Suffers Groin Strain

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Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford departed last night’s game with a groin strain, as Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News reports. The veteran had already been scheduled to miss a few games on the bereavement list, but the club will be anxious to see how he feels upon his return. “I really haven’t felt anything like that before,” said Crawford, “so I can’t tell you how bad it is. It just felt tight. I didn’t feel a pop, so from what I hear, that’s good news.” San Francisco will likely bring up utilityman Kelby Tomlinson to fill in for Crawford during his three-day absence, Baggarly notes.

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