Giants place pair of veteran infielders on injured list
San Francisco Giants infielders Thairo Estrada and Wilmer Flores
The Giants announced this evening that they’ve placed infielders Thairo Estrada and Wilmer Flores on the 10-day injured list. Estrada was sent to the shelf with a left wrist sprain and the latter was shelved with knee tendonitis. In corresponding moves, the club has called up infielder Tyler Fitzgerald and activated first baseman Lamonte Wade Jr. from the 10-day injured list.
It’s been a difficult year at the plate for both Estrada and Flores, both of whom have posted below-average offensive numbers after being among the club’s most productive players last year. On the heels of a 3.6 fWAR season where he posted fantastic defensive metrics and a 101 wRC+, Estrada has hit just .231/.264/.376 in 311 trips to the plate this year despite nearly identical peripheral numbers to his 2023 campaign. While his .259 batting average on balls in play may initially appear to be a clear indication that positive regression could be on the way for the 28-year-old, it’s worth noting that the infielder’s .279 wOBA actually outpaces his expected figure of .270.
As for Flores, the 32-year-old was coming off a fantastic 2023 campaign in a semi-regular role with the club last year where he slashed .284/.355/.509 (136 wRC+) in 454 trips to the plate while splitting time between first, second, and third base as well as the DH slot. Flores has found himself in a similar role to this point in the Giants’ season, albeit one that has seen him play first base almost exclusively while Wade was on the shelf. Flores’s plate discipline numbers are still excellent, as he’s walked at an 8.8% clip while striking out just 13.2% of the time, but he’s seemingly completely lost his power stroke. After crushing 23 home runs last year, he’s hit just four in 227 trips to the plate this season as his barrel rate has dipped from 7.8% to just 5.7% this year.
It’s not currently clear how long either player figures to be out of action, but the stays on the shelf should offer both veterans the opportunity to reset ahead of the second half, where both they and the Giants will surely be hoping for better results. Wade’s activation from the IL makes him a fairly clean replacement for Flores at first base, although it’s somewhat trickier for the club to replace Estrada.
Brett Wisely and Nick Ahmed had been acting as a platoon tandem at shortstop while Estrada manned the keystone on a daily basis, but with Fitzgerald entering the mix it’s less clear how that playing time will shake out. The 26-year-old has hit a respectable .273/.333/.409 in 28 games with the Giants to this point in the year, but he has just 106 total plate appearances under his belt since making his big league debut last season. It appears likely that Ahmed could see an uptick in playing time at shortstop as Wisely takes some starts at second base, while Fitzgerald could mix in at both positions in addition to the outfield and first base in a utility role.
Friday night’s news isn’t entirely bleak for the Giants, as they’ll surely be excited to return Wade to the starting lineup. The 30-year-old has been on the shelf since late May due to a hamstring strain but was among the very best hitters in all of baseball this year at the time of his injury. He’ll return to the starting lineup with a fantastic .333/.470/.426 slash line (166 wRC+) that makes up for the relative lack of power with an eye-popping 19.9% walk rate. If Wade manages to play at anything close to that level going forward this season, he’ll surely provide a major shot in the arm for a Giants offense that has ranked just 20th in the majors with a 97 wRC+ since Wade was placed on the shelf.
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