Giants notes: How the team plans to fill the gap after Wade’s injury originally appeared in NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – When the news broke that the Giants would be without LaMonte Wade Jr. for at least a month, there were many different ways to speculate about what would come next.
Could a reunion with Brandon Belt really be an option? Could negotiation be the best path? Could a young prospect like Brett Wisely or Marco Luciano occasionally stop by to keep a hot bat in the lineup?
Some of them were brought to Bob Melvin before Tuesday’s game, but for the coach, it’s all pretty straightforward.
“It would be easy to put Flo there, right?” he said.
Wilmer Flores was the Giants’ best hitter last season, and even though he got off to a slow start, he will be counted on to replace the player who was their best hitter this season. The Giants started Trenton Brooks on Tuesday to hit another left-handed bat against Zack Wheeler, but Melvin said Flores will be their primary first baseman moving on.
Flores has a .566 OPS and just one home run, but the team hasn’t lost faith that he can contribute. A year ago, he hit 23 home runs and posted a wRC+ of 136, which easily led the team, with Wade second.
This season, Wade is 169 years old, and by virtually any standard, he has been one of the most effective players in the game. Among hitters with at least 150 plate appearances, Wade has the highest on-base percentage (.470) and the third-highest batting average (.336). The only left-handed hitters with a higher wRC+ are Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Tucker, and Juan Soto.
Wade I felt tension in my hamstrings for the first time on the trip and he left Monday’s game after an awkward slide into second base. An MRI confirmed a grade 2 left hamstring strain that will cost Wade at least four weeks. He will miss the game at Rickwood Field, where he was eager to play, and likely lost any chance of making his first All-Star Game.
“It’s big. It is,” Melvin said. “He’s as good a left-handed hitter as there is in the league right now. Not only that, but there is a talent for the dramatic and for getting into big positions and getting big hits, as we have seen for some time. It’s going to be hard to replace that, but over the course of the season you’re going to have to, and we’ve had to replace a lot of guys here recently. This is probably the hardest we’ve ever had.
The Giants faced one injury after another in May, but at least they feel pretty prepared to fill the gap now. A year ago at this time, Gabe Kapler was having trouble finding enough hits for Flores. By the end of the year, he was an average player and the team’s best hitter. The team knows that Flores is as prepared as anyone else to intervene.
“His routine changes a little bit, but the mentality is the same,” Flores said Monday. “You try to have good swings and hit the ball hard. Nothing really changes.”
Trainer’s Room
Michael Conforto (hamstring) ran the inside turn on Tuesday afternoon, but Melvin said he still has a few days left on a rehab assignment. The Giants were already taking care with Conforto, and Wade’s injury is a reminder of how tricky hamstrings can be.
Keaton Winn (forearm strain) threw a 45-pitch bullpen session and is doing well. He will be eligible to come off the IL before the open rotation spot – filled very successfully by a bullpen game on Tuesday – comes back on the schedule.
Austin Slater (concussion) began a rehab assignment at Triple-A Sacramento on Tuesday and went 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout. Slater will also play with the River Cats on Wednesday. The Giants certainly can’t send Heliot Ramos back right now, but there are other ways to get Slater on the roster when he’s ready. Melvin said it’s possible this will be a longer rehab assignment since Slater wasn’t getting many hits before he was injured.
“We want him to feel good before he comes back and gets some hits and feels really good,” Melvin said. “It’s been a bit of an uneven spring and start to the season for him.”
Going in sequence
In Tuesday’s 1-0 win, Ramos extended his streak at the plate to 17 games and Matt Chapman extended his streak to 16 games. Ramos has a .361 on-base percentage during his streak and Chapman is at .431.
Chapman isn’t going anywhere in the next few years unless he decides to, but for Ramos, it changed his career. He has reached base in 18 of 19 games since being called up.
