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Brandon Belt Considering Undergoing Knee Surgery

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Giants first baseman Brandon Belt has been bothered by a right knee issue of late, and doctors have recommended he undergo surgery (relayed by Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic and Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). Belt and the Giants are expected to take 24 hours to determine how they plan to proceed.

Belt has been on the injured list a couple times this season due to inflammation in that knee. This is far from the first year in which the joint has proven bothersome, as Belt has twice previously undergone surgery and had it drained on multiple occasions. In a forthright chat with Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle last week, the 12-year MLB veteran acknowledged the knee could be problematic for the rest of his career.

The 34-year-old conceded in his discussion with Slusser that he could undergone another surgical procedure. At the time, he expressed a belief he could delay any surgery until the offseason. It now seems that may not be the case, and if he indeed elects to go under the knife, his 2022 campaign will be cut short. The Giants have fallen five games under .500 and are virtually certain to miss the playoffs at this point, so shutting things down and turning his attention to next season may be prudent regardless.

Belt’s production has taken a huge hit this season, one of the reasons for the Giants inability to replicate last year’s 107-win campaign. Through 298 plate appearances, he’s hitting only .213/.326/.350 with eight home runs. Belt’s just a season removed from blasting 29 longballs, but his hard contact rate has fallen more than six percentage points from last year’s 44.8% mark. It’s hard to imagine the persistent knee issues weren’t playing some role in those struggles, considering he mashed at a .285/.393/.595 clip between 2020-21.

It’s nevertheless tough to know what one can expect from Belt moving forward given his age and injury history. The career-long Giant is headed for free agency this offseason. Belt is making $18.4MM this year after accepting a qualifying offer last November, but he’ll certainly be facing a paycut during this trip to the open market.

Giants Release Ken Giles

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The Giants have released Ken Giles from their Triple-A roster, tweets Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. The club had signed Giles to a minor league deal just over a week ago. As Pavlovic notes, this move gives Giles a chance to join the organization of a contending team before the postseason eligibility cutoff, which is 11:59pm ET on August 31.

Giles, 31, has been one of the most dominant relievers in baseball at times during his career. In 2019, he threw 53 innings with the Blue Jays with a 1.87 ERA, racking up 23 saves and striking out an incredible 39.9% of batters faced. He was limited by injuries to just 3 2/3 innings in 2020, eventually undergoing Tommy John surgery in October.

The Mariners signed Giles to a two-year deal covering the 2021 and 2022 seasons, knowing that he would miss the first year of the deal while rehabbing from the surgery. He earned a salary of $1.5MM last year and is making $5MM here in 2022. He seemed to be on track to help the club on Opening Day this year until a finger injury suffered in Spring Training kept him on the IL until June 21. He threw 4 1/3 innings over five frames for the M’s before he had to return to the IL due to shoulder tightness.

He began a rehab assignment in early August but was designated for assignment by the Mariners during that rehab stint. He eventually rejected an outright assignment and elected free agency, as was his right as a player with more than five years of MLB service time. The Mariners are on the hook for the remainder of his salary this year, in addition to the $500K buyout on the club option for 2023.

The Giants signed him to a minor league deal just over a week ago, with Giles making one appearance with the club’s Complex League team and three at Triple-A. The Giants have slumped to a 61-66 record and are now 8 1/2 games out of a postseason spot. If Giles can find a new team by midnight tomorrow, he will be eligible for that club’s postseason roster, even if it’s just a minor league deal. If he is selected to a club’s major league roster, that team would only have to pay Giles the prorated league minimum for any time he’s on the team, with that amount being subtracted from what the Mariners pay.

Giants Select Scott Alexander

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The Giants announced they’ve selected reliever Scott Alexander onto the major league roster. Fellow southpaw Thomas Szapucki was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento in a corresponding move. To create a spot on the 40-man roster, San Francisco recalled left-hander Sam Long from the minors and placed him on the major league 60-day injured list.

Alexander is up for the first time as a Giant. The 33-year-old is no stranger to the NL West, having spent the 2018-21 campaigns with the archrival Dodgers. He was a solid situational piece for L.A. skipper Dave Roberts, posting a 3.49 ERA across 111 frames. The sinkerballer only struck out 17.7% of opposing hitters over that stretch, but only Zack Britton and Aaron Bummer had a ground-ball rate superior to Alexander’s 67.5% clip (among relievers with 100+ innings). He held left-handed opponents to a woeful .196/.262/.312 line in 122 plate appearances over that stretch.

Unfortunately, Alexander was also no stranger to the injured list. He lost a good chunk of the 2019 season with forearm inflammation, and he spent most of last year on the IL with a shoulder injury. The Dodgers waived him at the end of last season, and he remained a free agent until signing a minor league deal with San Francisco in March. He’s spent the majority of this year on the IL as well, only reporting to Sacramento three weeks ago. After 7 2/3 scoreless innings over seven games there, Alexander makes his return to the major leagues.

Long recently suffered a right oblique strain in Triple-A, according to his transactions log at MLB.com. His 2022 season comes to an end after 28 MLB appearances and eight outings in Sacramento. The swingman worked to a 3.61 ERA over 42 1/3 innings at the MLB level, albeit with a modest 18.2% strikeout rate. He’ll be paid at the prorated $700K league minimum rate for the rest of the season and collect big league service time for the next five weeks.

 @Drew_Smitty first reported Alexander’s forthcoming promotion yesterday.

Giants Place Brandon Belt On Injured List

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The Giants have placed first baseman Brandon Belt on the 10-day injured list due to discomfort in his bothersome right knee, per a team announcement. Outfielder Bryce Johnson has been recalled from Triple-A Sacramento take his spot on the roster.

Belt, 34, has been battling chronic knee issues for much of the season and acknowledged in a candid interview with the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser yesterday that the injury could well impact his baseball future. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about what happens if I’m not able to bounce back,” Belt told Slusser. “But I don’t like thinking about it, because it’s kind of upsetting.”

With two surgeries on that problematic knee already in the rear-view mirror, Belt added to Slusser that he’s “not sure there is anything else that can be done.” Belt has had his knee drained three times already this season, per Slusser.

It’s been a tough season for Belt, who’s hitting .213/.326/.350 on the year with just 18 extra-base hits (eight homers, nine doubles, one triple). From 2020-21, Belt was one of the best hitters in all of baseball, logging a combined .285/.393/.595 batting line with 38 home runs in 560 plate appearances. Among qualified hitters in that time, Belt’s .302/.404/.638 slash and 175 wRC+ against right-handed pitching trailed only Bryce Harper and Juan Soto for tops in Major League Baseball.

This year has been another story entirely, as Belt has been prone to prolonged slumps while navigating the ongoing troubles with his knee. He’s hitting just .150/.269/.200 over his past 25 games and has just two hits and five walks in his past 45 trips to the plate. He’s maintained a keen eye and knowledge of the strike zone, evidenced by this season’s 12.4% walk rate, but Belt has also seen his average exit velocity, hard-hit rate and barrel rate all decline noticeably from that 2020-21 peak. A timetable for Belt’s return hasn’t been provided, but given the recent struggles, there’s a clear need to get him some rest and hope that’ll alleviate some of the discomfort that has contributed heavily this swoon.

Johnson, 26, made his big league debut earlier this season but was held hitless in a tiny sample of four plate appearances spread across four games. He’s hitting .287/.358/.398 in 287 Triple-A plate appearances — a similar but slightly diminished follow-up to last year’s .286/.377/.433 slash in 407 plate appearances at this same level.

A 2017 sixth-rounder, Johnson has never ranked among the system’s very best prospects, but he’s provided average or better offense at just about every minor league spot while serving as a prolific base thief. The speed that makes him a threat on the bases also led to plus scouting grades on his glove in center dating back to his college days. He’ll give the Giants a switch-hitting option who can plug in at any of the three outfield spots for the time being.

Giants Claim Jonathan Bermudez

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The Giants claimed left-hander Jonathan Bermudez off waivers from the Astros.  Houston designated Bermudez for assignment this past weekend. To clear a 40-man roster spot, San Francisco recalled reliever Gregory Santos and placed him on the major league 60-day injured list, likely ending his season.

The 26-year-old Bermudez is changing organizations for the first time in his career, as he was a 23rd-round draft pick for the Astros back in 2018.  He pitched in both 2019 and 2021, in the latter season returning from the 2020 layoff year to post a 3.24 ERA over 111 combined innings with the Astros’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates.

Between Bermudez’s impressive strikeout and walk totals, it seemed as though Houston was developing another homegrown gem, yet the 2022 season has been a grind for the left-hander.  Bermudez has an 8.96 ERA over 67 1/3 innings at Triple-A, with an increased walk rate and a big dropoff in his missed bats — Bermudez has only a 20% strikeout rate this season, down from 31% in 2021.  A hip injury could be a contributing factor, as Bermudez missed a month of action and struggled both before and after his absence.

The Astros put Bermudez on their 40-man roster during the offseason, but his lack of production in 2022 made him an expendable piece.  The Giants are one of baseball’s most aggressive teams on the waiver wire, so it isn’t surprising that they’ve moved to add a younger pitcher who showed a lot of promise as recently as last season.  Whether due to a healthier hip or perhaps just with a change of scenery, Bermudez might well be able to turn things around in San Francisco, given how the Giants have been successful at revitalizing several struggling pitchers.

Giants Sign Ken Giles To Minor League Deal

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The Giants have signed righty Ken Giles to a minor league deal, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. He is expected to pitch for one of their teams in the Arizona Complex League tonight.

Giles, 31, has been one of the most dominant relievers in baseball at times during his career. In 2019, he threw 53 innings with the Blue Jays with a 1.87 ERA, racking up 23 saves and striking out an incredible 39.9% of batters faced. He was limited by injuries to just 3 2/3 innings in 2020, eventually undergoing Tommy John surgery in October.

The Mariners signed Giles to a two-year deal covering the 2021 and 2022 seasons, knowing that he wouldn’t contribute in the first year of the deal. The righty made $1.5MM last year and is making $5MM here in 2022. He missed all of last season as expected, but seemed to be on track to help the club on Opening Day this year. Unfortunately, a finger injury suffered in Spring Training prevented him from making his Mariners debut until June 21. He threw 4 1/3 innings over five frames for the M’s before he had to return to the IL due to shoulder tightness.

He began a rehab assignment in early August to begin his return, getting designated for assignment by the Mariners during that rehab stint. Giles eventually rejected an outright assignment and elected free agency. As a player with more than fives years of MLB service time, it was his right to do so without forfeiting any salary. There’s around $1.18MM remaining to be paid out of that $5MM salary for this year, which the Mariners will be on the hook for, in addition to the $500K buyout on the club option for 2023. If he makes it back to the big leagues with San Fran, they will only have to pay him the prorated league minimum, with that amount being subtracted from what the Mariners pay.

The Giants are still hanging around the playoff race, currently six games behind the Phillies for the final Wild Card spot in the National League. If Giles can return to his previous form, he could give a nice boost to the Giants down the stretch.

NL Notes: Kimbrel, Fedde, Cavalli, Nationals, Junis

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The Dodgers used Craig Kimbrel for the last inning of today’s 10-3 win over the Marlins, and the reliever delivered a perfect frame to mop things up.  While not a save situation for Kimbrel, manager Dave Roberts told J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group (Twitter links) and other reporters that Kimbrel and the team have agreed to base the right-hander’s workload going forward not on save chances, but rather on just getting regular outings.  This wouldn’t preclude Kimbrel being used in save opportunities, of course, and Roberts said he could still choose to use Kimbrel in consecutive games.

It has been a shaky year for the veteran reliever, as between a subpar walk rate and a lot of hard contact allowed, Kimbrel has only a 4.46 ERA over 42 1/3 innings.  A big .388 BABIP is responsible for some of these struggles, but consistency has been hard to come by in Kimbrel’s first season in Los Angeles.  It has turned the ninth inning into a question mark for the Dodgers heading into the postseason, and it could be that Kimbrel’s adjusted role could be the team’s way of auditioning some other relievers for the closer’s job as October looms.  It is also possible the Dodgers will rotate Kimbrel and many other pitchers into save situations as circumstances dictate, which may concern L.A. fans who have seen late-game breakdowns doom the Dodgers in past postseason trips.

More from around the National League…

  • The Nationals rotation will get a jolt this week, as both Erick Fedde and top prospect Cade Cavalli might be in the mix.  Fedde is the surer thing, as manager Davey Martinez told reporters (including Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com) that Fedde will be activated from the 15-day injured list and start Tuesday’s game with the Mariners.  Right shoulder inflammation put Fedde out of action back on July 27, and the right-hander had a 4.95 ERA over 92 2/3 innings and 19 starts for Washington before going on the IL.  Fedde is a potential non-tender candidate as he enters his second year of arbitration eligibility, though he’ll have a few more starts to make his case for another contract, plus the Nationals might be open to giving a former first-rounder another chance anyway as the team looks to rebuild.  Cory Abbott will be moved to the bullpen to fit Fedde into the rotation.
  • Cavalli was the 22nd overall pick of the 2020 draft, and is ranked within the top 60 on updated prospect lists from Baseball America (52nd) and MLB Pipeline (58th).  It has been just a few days since Cavalli’s 24th birthday, and the right-hander has a 3.71 ERA, 25.9% strikeout rate, and 9.7% walk rate over 97 Triple-A innings this season.  Control is the biggest question facing Cavalli, who otherwise has four plus pitches, highlighted by a 97mph fastball that earned a 70 grade from both BA and Pipeline.  The Nationals’ rotation plans are somewhat unknown due to three off-days in the next eight-day span, but Zuckerman thinks Cavalli might be promoted during the team’s August 26-September 1 homestand.
  • X-rays were negative on Jakob Junis’ left hand after the Giants starter was hit by a line drive in today’s game.  Giants manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including MLB.com’s Maria I. Guardado) that Junis will also get a CT scan tomorrow to further check for any damage.  The discomfort was severe enough for Junis to be forced out of the game in the sixth inning.  Since Junis is a right-handed pitcher and because San Francisco doesn’t play on either Monday or Thursday this week, it seems possible Junis might not need an IL trip or even technically any missed starts, if the off-days just push the rest of the rotation back.  Junis has had a solid first year with the Giants, posting a 3.58 ERA over 78 innings despite a hamstring string that cost him over a month of action.

Giants Claim Patrick Mazeika From Mets

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The Giants have claimed catcher Patrick Mazeika off waivers from the Mets, tweets Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com. The Mets had designated him for assignment a few days ago. To open a spot for Mazeika on the 40-man roster, infielder Donovan Walton has been recalled from Triple-A Sacramento and placed on the 60-day injured list due to right shoulder inflammation.

Mazeika, 28, was drafted by the Mets and has spent his entire career with the organization until now. He made his MLB debut last year and has gotten into 61 games between 2021 and 2022. He’s hit just .190/.236/.279 in that time but has much better numbers in the minors. In Triple-A this year, he’s hit .261/.383/.333 for a wRC+ of 105.

The Giants thinned out their catching depth by trading Curt Casali to the Mariners at the deadline. Joey Bart and Austin Wynns are with the big league club, while Yermin Mercedes and Ford Proctor are in the minors, though those latter two also play other positions and are only part-time catchers. Mazeika is also capable of playing some first base, meaning the Giants now have a collection of versatile depth catching options jockeying for playing time.

As for Walton, he was acquired from the Mariners in a May trade, with the Giants optioning him to the minors and recalling him multiple times this year. He was in the minors when injured but has been called up in order to be transferred to the 60-day injured list. This means he will no longer occupy a spot on the 40-man roster, but he will earn major league pay and service time for as long as he’s there.

Outrights: Demeritte, Walker

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Updates on a couple of players that were recently designated for assignment…

  • The Braves announced that outfielder Travis Demeritte has been outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett. The 27-year-old had been designated for assignment earlier in the week. Originally drafted by the Rangers, Demeritte was traded to Atlanta in 2016 and then traded to Detroit in 2019. He made his MLB debut with the Tigers before coming back to the Braves on a waiver claim last year. Atlanta passed him through waivers in February of last year, keeping him in the minors all season, but then selecting him to the 40-man roster in November to prevent him reaching minor league free agency. He’s played 26 big league games this year, hitting .213/.260/.337, while hitting .207/.291/.357 in 38 Triple-A games. Because he had been previously outrighted in his career, Demeritte has the right to reject this assignment, though it’s not yet clear whether he’s decided to exercise that right or not.
  • Outfielder Steele Walker, who was designated for assignment by the Giants earlier this week, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Sacramento, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Walker, 26, was originally drafted by the White Sox but was flipped to the Rangers for Nomar Mazara in 2019. Texas selected him to the roster in June but gave him the DFA treatment a couple of weeks ago. The Giants claimed him and quickly DFA’d him again, with Walker clearing waivers this time. He only got into five MLB games while with the Rangers, spending most of the season in Triple-A. In 55 games between the Round Rock Express and Sacramento River Cats, he’s hit .268/.345/.431, striking out just 17% of the time. Since this is his first career outright and he has less than three years of MLB service time, he is ineligible to reject the assignment. He’ll stick with the River Cats and serve as depth for the Giants, but without occupying a spot on the club’s 40-man roster.

Giants Claim Andrew Vasquez, Designate Steele Walker

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The Giants have claimed left-hander Andrew Vasquez off waivers from the Phillies.  To create roster space, San Francisco has designated outfielder Steele Walker for assignment.

Vasquez was DFA’ed himself two days ago, and the southpaw will now be joining his third new organization since the start of August.  The Blue Jays signed Vasquez just after the lockout ended, but he struggled to an 8.10 ERA in limited action (6 2/3 innings) in the big leagues, and Vasquez also missed over six weeks due to an ankle injury.  Toronto designated Vasquez after the trade deadline and the Phillies put in a claim, and now Vasquez’s Philadelphia tenure will end after four appearances with Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

The Giants have assigned Vasquez to their own Triple-A affiliate for now, and given San Francisco’s tendency to cycle through players on the back end of their roster, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Vasquez either up in the majors soon or perhaps even back on the DFA treadmill in relatively short order.  Vazquez has an 8.10 ERA over 13 1/3 career innings in the majors (21 total games with the Blue Jays, Dodgers, and Twins from 2018-22) but he has some very solid numbers and a lot of strikeouts over his minor league career.  His Triple-A resume consists of a 3.72 ERA over 87 innings, though with a high walk rate.

Walker made his MLB debut this season, appearing in five games with the Rangers before the Giants claimed him off waivers on August 7.  The White Sox selected Walker in the second round of the 2018 draft, but he has a modest .257/.329/.416 over 1405 career PA in the minor leagues.  Chicago dealt Walker to the Rangers for Nomar Mazara in 2019, and thus Walker (a native of Prospect, Texas) eventually got his first taste of the majors while playing for his hometown team.

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