Giants center fielder Harrison Bader might not miss much time after going on the injured list with a hamstring strain.
Gregory Bull/AP
CINCINNATI — After leaning heavily to the right among their hitters to open the season, the San Francisco Giants suddenly have two left-handed hitting outfielders available after having to place Harrison Bader and Jared Oliva on the injured list on Wednesday.
Will Brennan, who impressed the staff in spring training and is batting .392 at Triple-A Sacramento, was recalled along with Drew Gilbert. Gilbert provided a spark for the Giants after getting called up in August; he’ll be reunited with his college coach, Tony Vitello, for the first time at the big-league level in a regular-season setting.
Both went straight into the starting lineup, Brennan in left batting eighth and Gilbert in center batting ninth for a club that entered the game with the league’s worst record. Vitello said that Gilbert is likely to get much of the playing time in center with Bader out, especially with Jung Hoo Lee playing so well in right.
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The Giants weren’t looking to make a shakeup move — they planned to bring up prospects only if there were to be regular playing time for them — but with the team last in the league in scoring, getting two hot bats up is a plus.
“It’s good, just in general, to get a change of scenery,” Vitello said, adding that the previous night the team might have made good use of some left-handed pinch-hitters in a one-run game. “I think it can be a boost for sure.”
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Bader has a hamstring strain, something he tends to deal with once or twice per season, while Oliva, who drew his second start of the season Tuesday filling in for Bader, fractured his left hamate bone, a common baseball injury usually incurred swinging the bat. Recovery time for a hamate fracture is four to six weeks.
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The Giants did not announce the severity of Bader’s hamstring strain, but he missed the previous two games. He was considered a lineup option Tuesday, though, so he might not miss much time. He has dealt with a hamstring issue since returning from the World Baseball Classic in March and, he said, he’d like to get enough rehab at-bats to feel good at the plate, given his limited spring. That makes it unclear how much time he might miss beyond the 10-day minimum, backdated to April 12.
“I think it’s just important to be honest with yourself and be honest with your organization, and I think just a reset of everything and kicking all of that discomfort out of there will put me in a really good spot to just come back and be the version I know I can be on that field,” Bader said, explaining that the injury affected his hitting because he wasn’t as strong as he needs to be.
The Giants signed Bader to a two-year, $20.5 million deal this winter; he’s batting .115 with one homer while dealing with the hamstring problem. “As much as it sucks to have to go through this, it sucks even more to go out there and do what I’m doing, because it’s not who I am, it’s not what I’m capable of,” he said. “But it’s really hard to perform at this level when you’re not fully equipped to execute what you’re trying to do at the plate.”
Oliva and Brennan were also offseason additions, Brennan on a big-league deal and Oliva on a minor-league contract, but he played his way onto the team with a tremendous spring that included leading the Cactus League in steals, five years after he last played in the big leagues with Pittsburgh.
Tuesday “was a shot for me to contribute, to help the team win, and it’s just unfortunate, disappointing,” said Oliva, who felt some discomfort in his second or third at-bat. “No other way to put it but next man up mentality. We’ve got Will here. We’ve got Drew. We’re going to just get right back to it.”
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Gilbert, acquired in the Tyler Rogers trade with the Mets last summer, was batting .289 at Sacramento with a homer and 11 runs scored; last year, the Giants were 22-17 in games in which he played, including 6-2 in a stretch in which he hit .462 with two homers and drove in 10 runs.
“I just want to come up here and help any way I can,” he said, “be a good teammate and contribute to hopefully winning baseball.”