Giants Select Buddy Kennedy
The Giants announced that they have selected the contract of infielder Buddy Kennedy. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle noted that Kennedy was in the clubhouse prior to the announcement. They also announced their selection of right-hander Wilkin Ramos, a move that was previously reported. In corresponding active roster moves, catcher Jesús Rodríguez has been optioned to Triple-A Sacramento and right-hander Joel Peguero has been placed on the 60-day injured list with a left hamstring strain. The Peguero move also opened one 40-man spot. The other was opened by catcher Logan Porter being designated for assignment.
Kennedy, 27, signed a minor league deal with the Giants in the offseason. Since then, he has been putting up huge numbers for Triple-A Sacramento. He has matching walk and strikeout rates of 12.4%, which are both great numbers. He also has eight home runs. Even in the hitter-friendly context of the Pacific Coast League, his .321/.424/.543 line translates to a 153 wRC+, indicating he has been 53% better than the league average hitter. He has gotten some help from a .342 batting average on balls in play but would be having a good season even with some more neutral luck.
The Giants will be the latest team to try to benefit from a big league breakout from Kennedy. He has often put up good numbers on the farm, which has led to many major league chances he hasn’t been able to take advantage of. He received 181 plate appearances over the previous four campaigns, spending time with the Diamondbacks, Tigers, Phillies, Blue Jays and Dodgers. He put up a dismal .178/.271/.274 line with those clubs.
Despite that rough performance, it’s understandable why he keeps getting chances. For one thing, his MLB track record thus far consists of a very small sample size. In the minors, dating back to the start of 2024, he has a .285/.386/.458 line and 126 wRC+. He also provides defensive versatility, with professional experience at all four infield spots and left field. He shouldn’t be considered a real shortstop option since he has just ten minor league innings there and none since 2024, but the ability to bounce around to the other spots is valuable.
If he could combine that defensive versatility with some capable big league offense, he would be an attractive piece, but he hasn’t yet been able to cement himself as such. He has exhausted his options, pushing him to fringe roster territory. He had to settle for a minor league deal but has earned another big league shot with the Giants.
The Giants have been using a three-catcher system for a while now, with Rodríguez promoted in early May. At that time, he was sharing the roster with Patrick Bailey and Eric Haase. The Giants then traded Bailey to the Guardians and selected Porter to the roster. Porter was optioned not long after, just before the Giants reinstated Daniel Susac from the injured list. Rodríguez hasn’t been playing much in that setup lately, with just one plate appearance since May 26th. Instead of riding the pine in the big leagues, he’ll get regular reps in the minors while Kennedy gives the major league club a bit more infield depth.
Porter, 30, now heads into DFA limbo. That can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Giants could take as long as five days to explore trade interest, but they could also put him on waivers sooner than that.
He has generally been considered a good defender in the minors. His offense has shown flashes but has been inconsistent. From 2022 to 2024, he had a .267/.387/.433 line and 113 wRC+ on the farm, but he has a .218/.336/.325 line and 81 wRC+ since then. He has received some very brief looks in the majors and produced a .184/.326/.289 line 47 plate appearances.
He is still optionable and could perhaps appeal to a club in need of extra catching depth but he has cleared outright waivers twice before. Since he has been outrighted previously, he has the right to reject further outright assignments in favor of free agency.
As for Peguero, it’s a rough blow. He began the season on the IL due to that left hamstring and missed over a month, getting reinstated in early May. He made 11 appearances since then but is now right back on the IL. His exact timeline isn’t clear but the injury is apparently severe enough that the Giants have placed him directly onto the 60-day IL. He won’t be eligible for reinstatement until the end of July.
He has a 2.41 earned run average in the first 33 2/3 innings of his career, though that number is surely somewhat misleading. His 9% walk rate is around average and his 53.6% ground ball rate is quite good but his 16.4% strikeout rate is subpar. His .240 batting average on balls in play and 74.6% strand rate are both to the fortunate side, which has helped keep some runs off the board. His 3.83 FIP and 4.38 SIERA are perhaps better indicators of his true performance to date.
Those numbers will be locked in for at least another couple of months. In the meantime, Ramos will make his major league debut. If he can succeed, it will soften the blow of Peguero’s departure, at least to some degree.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
Giants’ Joel Peguero Diagnosed With Grade 2 Hamstring Strain
Giants reliever Joel Peguero has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 strain of his left hamstring, the team announced. The team didn’t provide a return timeline, but it seems likely the hard-throwing righty will begin the season on the 15-day injured list.
A Grade 2 strain means there’s some degree of tearing. The injury can have different timelines. Yankees reliever Scott Effross was diagnosed with a Grade 2 hamstring strain around this time last year. He was on the injured list until May 18. Back in 2023, Nestor Cortes suffered the same injury in the middle of February. He was back in time to avoid a season-opening IL stay.
Those are only illustrative of the different possible timelines. The Giants will surely provide more details on a treatment plan in the coming days and weeks. Effross, for instance, received a platelet-rich plasma injection to treat his injury. It’s unclear if Peguero will do the same.
The 28-year-old Peguero had a good chance to break camp for the first time in his career. San Francisco called him up last August. Peguero impressed down the stretch, turning in a 2.42 earned run average through his first 22 1/3 innings. He only struck out 20% of opponents but got ground-balls at a 53.3% clip behind a blistering heater. Peguero averaged 99.9 mph on his sinker, the seventh-highest velocity in MLB.
Peguero’s huge arm could even make him a candidate for saves in a wide open San Francisco bullpen. Ryan Walker is the favorite to close as their only healthy reliever with much experience in that regard. Walker had an uneven 2025 season, though, so his hold on the job wouldn’t be super strong even if he wins it out of camp. First-year manager Tony Vitello will be looking for various unproven arms to step into high-leverage work in what is arguably the weakest area of the roster.
NL West Notes: Devers, Bader, Song
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
Giants Select Joel Peguero
The Giants announced a series of roster moves today, recalling outfielder Luis Matos and selecting right-hander Joel Peguero. In corresponding active roster moves, they have optioned outfielder Grant McCray and right-hander Kai-Wei Teng. Left-hander Erik Miller has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot.
Peguero, 28, makes it to the majors for the first time. It was a long journey. He originally signed with the Rays as an international amateur way back in 2016. Even then he was a bit on the old side, as most international amateurs sign when first eligible at 16 and have verbal deals well before that. That was Peguero’s age-19 season.
In the following decade, he spent many years with the Rays but eventually moved around to the Rockies, Nationals and Tigers without getting a major league call. He signed a minor league deal with the Giants coming into 2025.
He has thrown 42 1/3 Triple-A innings this year with a 5.10 earned run average. That’s obviously not a great number but it’s come in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League and Peguero has a .353 batting average on balls in play and 68.3% strand rate this year, both unfortunate numbers. He is averaging close to 100 miles per hour on his two fastballs while also throwing a cutter, slider and changeup around 90 mph. That arsenal has helped him strike out 24.1% of batters faced, though also with a 12% walk rate.
The Giants have fallen to 6.5 games back of a playoff spot, so they are surely leaning towards decisions that prioritize the future over this year. They sold at the deadline and can now use the remainder of the season to get looks at some other players. They can throw Peguero out there in front of big league hitters and see how they handle his fiery stuff. If he can get outs, perhaps he can earn a role on next year’s club.
Sending Teng down to the minors opens a job in the rotation. Manager Bob Melvin tells reporters, including Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle, that Carson Whisenhunt will be coming up to start tomorrow’s game. However, Landen Roupp is also going on the injured list. It was reported yesterday that Roupp has a left knee sprain and is going on the IL.
Justin Verlander is starting today’s game, with Logan Webb and Robbie Ray scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. The Giants are off on Monday, so it’s theoretically possible that they go back to Verlander on Tuesday. They will need another starter at some point, however, as Tuesday’s game will be the first of nine in a row. Carson Seymour and Tristan Beck are currently working long relief roles and one of them could make a spot start, though the club also has a number of pitchers on optional assignment who could be recalled.
As for Miller, he landed on the 15-day IL in early July due to a mild sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow. He started a rehab assignment this month but the club informed reporters this week that a recent MRI showed more inflammation and that he’ll be shut down for another two weeks. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle was among those who relayed that update.
Miller’s 60-day count is retroactive to his initial IL placement, so he’ll be eligible for reinstatement in early September. However, based on the most recent information, it seems like he’ll just be finishing his shutdown period at that time. Even if he’s declared healthy at that point, he would likely need a bit of time to ramp up and go on another rehab assignment.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images