Baltimore Orioles’ Taylor Ward (3) is forced out at second by San Francisco Giants second baseman Luis Arraez, left, on a challenged play that was ruled slide interference during the third inning of a baseball game, Saturday, April 11, 2026, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Stephanie Scarbrough/Associated Press
BALTIMORE — A day after getting kicked in his throwing hand while fielding a grounder at second base, Luis Arraez was out of the San Francisco Giants’ lineup for the rubber match at Camden Yards.
Manager Tony Vitello said Arraez probably could play if needed — and wanted to play — but with Monday’s day off before a three-game series at Cincinnati, the hope was to “get through today’s game without using him.”
“I don’t know if it’s even a possibility, but that ultimately will be up to him along with our (training staff), and you get almost three days of recovery so he can get to feeling great, instead of just good enough to play, in an ideal world,” Vitello said.
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Arraez had some stiffness in his affected fingers, but an X-ray Saturday night showed no breaks and he only came out after recording a hit; swinging a bat, and, especially, connecting can be uncomfortable with a hand injury.
With Arraez out, Christian Koss was at second against lefty Cade Povich, with Casey Schmitt again at DH. The other lineup change was a little unexpected: right-handed hitting Harrison Bader was out, with Jung Hoo Lee, a left-handed hitter, moving to center and Jerar Encarnacion getting the start in right.
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Bader is batting .250 against left-handers and .091 against right-handers, but lifetime his splits are dead even, .245 against both, and Sunday was something of a work day for him as he tries to get his swing going.
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“Every day is a day he has potential to be out there in the outfield for us, for defense in particular, leadership — even a day like today, he’s been actively talking with guys, either about some stuff from yesterday or preparing for today,” Vitello said. “Today’s game is just we want to get him in a rhythm offensively, and sometimes that comes at different times for guys.”
As for Bader’s swing, Vitello said, “From my vantage point, his BP swings are, on particular days, the best out of everybody, or at the very least his BP is impressive fundamentally. Even with the game action, he’s just missing pitches. It kind of doesn’t make sense, a little bit of a head scratcher. Now he’s chased out of the zone a little bit too, but I’m willing to bet at least some part of that comes from trying to make up for lost ground, trying get this thing going, trying to stack good at-bats as many as possible, as quick as possible, so maybe that leads to some of the chasing.”
Bailey’s ABs: Patrick Bailey, as expected with a day game after a night game and a lefty on the mound, was not behind the plate, and he, too, is working on his swing.
Bailey felt he’d found something in the final month or so of last season — he hit .288 in September and .246 in the second half; the Giants would be thrilled with the latter, but the two-time Gold Glove catcher has started the season 6-for-41.
Four of those hits have come in the past five games, and he’s actually been squaring balls up all year while striking out infrequently, all good signs. His 13.6 strikeout rate is less than half of last year’s 29.4 rate, and something to note, as is his .375 mark against breaking balls, but like many Giants, he’s not hitting the fastball well, with a .100 average.
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Bailey said Sunday that the key for him is making sure he’s solid on his back side at the plate and for him, that means making sure he’s on his heels, not his toes — it’s almost more of a mental thing, being planted on his heel, than anything else.
“From there, I’m seeing the ball a lot better and I’m taking better swings at better pitches,” he said.
Vitello said that in Friday’s game, he was especially impressed with Bailey’s at-bats, pointing to some hard contact and good bat speed. And as always, Bailey’s best at-bats tend to come with men on base; he’s always been good at moving runners over and providing a clutch hit here or there.
“When he’s up to bat and it looks like there’s intent in his swing, the outcome, for me, is good,” Vitello said, “but when that intent isn’t there, then it’s not the same.”