Tyler Fitzgerald entered last season as the San Francisco Giants’ projected everyday second baseman after a promising rookie campaign in 2024. One year later, Fitzgerald is heading to the Blue Jays organization, traded to Toronto for cash considerations on Saturday.
Fitzgerald didn’t take quite as well to second base as hoped last season, and didn’t hit enough to stick, either; he was sent down in early July batting .227, and Casey Schmitt and Christian Koss combined to make the bulk of the rest of the starts there.
This season with Luis Arraez at second and Schmitt and Koss ensconced as the backup infielders, Fitzgerald was expendable and he was designated for assignment Monday when the Giants acquired right-hander Dylan Smith from the Tigers.
In 2024, Fitzgerald hit .280 with 15 homers with San Francisco while mostly playing shortstop, after he’d hit 62 homers over the 2021-2023 seasons in the minor leagues; he hit just 10 last year between the majors and Triple-A and was 0-for-12 to start this season back with Sacramento after batting .189 in the Cactus League this spring.
Manager Tony Vitello said he got to know Fitzgerald well this spring, “and you start to care about the person as much as you do the player (but) whatever the formula was that was going on and where it started I couldn’t tell you, it just wasn’t working. … He’s got a tool set, there’s no doubt about it, and the want-to is not a problem.
“When you got that clean slate, it’s a little easier to go play; I think a fresh set of circumstances can help him march on.”
The Giants had turned Fitzgerald into a utility player, but Jesus Rodriguez, acquired in the Camilo Doval deal with the Yankees last summer, has taken over that role in Sacramento. Rodriguez is also a good catcher and he’s five years younger than Fitzgerald.
Buttó update: After surgery to remove a blood clot from his right arm, reliever José Buttó will miss two to four months, according to the Giants.
Vitello said there’s relief that the injury is not anything structural with the arm. “Two to four months is not ideal, but we’re all familiar with arm injuries that last longer than that,” he said.
The main thing is that Buttó is in no danger now from an untreated blood clot, something that can be life threatening.
“I kind of freaked out on the mound, to be honest with you, because I’d never heard of the symptoms he was having,” Vitello said. “And for good reason, it’s a pretty unique situation.”
Vitello believes that the Giants have enough depth to fill in; among other things, Sam Hentges (shoulder capsule surgery) is throwing to hitters and is scheduled to do that several more times before the next step, which likely would be some games at extended spring training following by a rehab assignment. That could put Hentges in the time frame to join the team in the next month or so.
Briefly: Vitello said earlier in the week that Rafael Devers was likely to be at first base on the next homestand, which starts April 21, but Saturday, Vitello pushed the timeframe slightly forward, saying Devers might play first on the upcoming three-city trip, which starts Friday in Baltimore. … Punctuation alert: Arraez said he requested that the team and league no longer put an accent over the second A in his last name at the behest of his mother, Maria. Baseballreference.com, MLB.com and other baseball websites stopped using the accent Saturday, and the team game notes also reflect Arraez’s request.