The Sports Xchange
MLB Team Report – San Francisco Giants – INSIDE PITCH
When is Angel Pagan returning to the Giants’ lineup?
Well, his hamstring injury isn’t as minor as it first was perceived to be. It’s now known that the center fielder had a platelet-rich-plasma injection during his time on the disabled list and that surgery was mentioned as an option.
Asked about a return to the lineup, Pagan said, “What day? I don’t know.”
The last day Giants fans saw Pagan on the field was the day he hit an inside-the-park, game-ending homer, May 25 against the Rockies. A cortisone shot a few days later didn’t help that much, in retrospect, and now his return is up in the air.
The plasma injection was done to quicken the healing process, and it isn’t known how much of a help that was, either.
The Giants’ medical staff has discussed possible surgery. Manager Bruce Bochy said a procedure to fix a muscle near the tibia in Pagan’s left leg could shelve the center fielder six to eight weeks.
Even if Pagan gets back on the field quickly, his return to the lineup won’t be immediate. First, he’ll go on a minor league rehab assignment.
In Pagan’s absence, Gregor Blanco has received the bulk of the playing time in center field and the leadoff position. Blanco went 2-for-6 Monday in the Giants’ 5-3, 13-inning loss to the Padres.
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MLB Team Report – San Francisco Giants – NOTES, QUOTES
RECORD: 35-34
STREAK: Lost three
PAST 10 GAMES: 4-6
NEXT: Padres (Andrew Cashner, 5-3, 3.52) at Giants (Matt Cain, 5-3, 4.70)
PLAYER NOTES:
–2B Marco Scutaro could return to the lineup as early as Tuesday after passing a variety of tests on his left pinkie finger. The veteran has been wearing a custom orthotic split on his finger while taking batting practice and fielding grounders. So far, so good. How the finger will respond to such things as applying a tag on a hard-charging baserunner is another matter. Even if Scutaro does start Tuesday, it will be very much on a trial basis. He sat out his sixth consecutive game Monday.
–RHP Matt Cain got off to a slow start this season, going winless in six April starts. It’s now clear why it happened: He was unlucky. The Giants had two three-game series against the Padres in April, and Cain’s turn didn’t come up in either. It’s a safe bet he wouldn’t have gone 0-for-April if that hadn’t been the case. Cain owns the Padres, his opponent Tuesday, having limited them to a 3.17 ERA in 30 career starts. The dominance reached new heights last season when the Padres managed all of one run against Cain in two starts, a stretch of 15 innings. Cain won both of those games, and he’s gone 5-1 since the calendar changed from April to May this season.
–CF Angel Pagan spent another day Monday trying to convince Giants management he doesn’t need surgery on his troublesome hamstring, and the team brass spent another day unwilling to remove Pagan from the disabled list. So the stalemate continues. Pagan has received cortisone and platelet-rich-plasma injections since suffering what at the time was deemed an insignificant injury May 25. He says he’s feeling better and hopes to be back in action by the end of the week. The Giants already have announced that Pagan’s next action, whenever it is, will come in the minor leagues on a rehab assignment. If that were to occur later this week, Pagan could be back in a Giants uniform early next week. Then again, he also could be scheduled for surgery by that point, and that could lead to a two-month layoff.
–3B Pablo Sandoval is scheduled to come off the disabled list June 24. Being that the Giants are scheduled to open a series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles that day, the club would like nothing more than to see Sandoval arrive at that date fully healthy. It’s nearly a week away, but all indications are Sandoval will be back at third base that night. His strained foot is making what the Giants label daily improvement, which is what it’s going to take to make his deadline.
–C/1B Buster Posey didn’t bat Monday, meaning he will carry his 14-game hitting streak into Tuesday’s home game against the Padres. But that didn’t keep him from being involved in one of the oddest sequences of the season. Posey was inserted into Monday’s game in the top of the 13th inning as part of a double switch, with manager Bruce Bochy thinking that would allow his hottest hitter to lead off the bottom of the inning. However, Bochy misread his lineup card and put Posey in the seventh slot in the lineup, which meant he would bat eighth (if at all) in the 13th. When it was brought to Bochy’s attention that he had erred, he approached the plate umpire and tried to undo the change, even going as far as to send Posey back to the dugout. But Brian Gorman was having none of it, ordering Posey back onto the field. As it turned out, Posey didn’t get a chance to bat in the 13th, when having him available on the bench could have positioned him to come to the plate as a pinch hitter representing the potential tying run.
–2B Tony Abreu, who sat out Sunday’s game due to a sore right hamstring, returned to action Monday. He went 0-for-5 with a walk and scored a run.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “I messed up. I got distracted and was upset. Once I said it wrong, I was done. I knew that, but that’s a first.” — Manager Bruce Bochy, on the mistake he made in the 13th inning, inserting 1B Buster Posey into the wrong spot in the batting order. Posey didn’t get to hit in the bottom half of the inning, and the Giants lost 5-3 to the Padres.
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MLB Team Report – San Francisco Giants – ROSTER REPORT
MEDICAL WATCH:
–INF Tony Abreu (sore right hamstring) did not play June 16 as a precaution. He returned to action June 17.
–2B Marco Scutaro (tendon issue in his left pinkie) left the June 11 game after getting plunked. He was examined by a hand specialist June 12 and advised he could do no further damage to the tendon by playing and could avoid surgery if he feels he can play with a permanently bent finger. Scutaro was diagnosed with “mallet finger” and plans to be fitted with an orthotic device that will allow him to play despite ligament damage. Normal treatment for the injury calls for immobilization for six weeks or a pin inserted in the finger to keep it straight. He didn’t play June 12-17. He might return to the lineup as soon as June 18.
–3B Pablo Sandoval (strained left foot) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to June 9. He hopes to be activated as soon as he is eligible.
–CF Angel Pagan (strained left hamstring) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to May 28. An MRI revealed bursitis, and he received a cortisone shot May 29. There’s a chance he could begin a rehab assignment late in the week of June 17-23, but there’s also a chance he could need surgery.
–RHP Santiago Casilla (right tibia cyst) went on the 15-day disabled list May 21. He had surgery May 28, and he doesn’t expect to return before the All-Star break.
–RHP Ryan Vogelsong (broken right hand) went on the 15-day disabled list May 21, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on June 8. He underwent surgery May 21.
–LHP Eric Surkamp (Tommy John surgery in July 2012) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 22, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on May 27. He began a rehab assignment with Class A San Jose on June 5.
ROTATION:
RHP Matt Cain
LHP Madison Bumgarner
RHP Tim Lincecum
LHP Barry Zito
RHP Chad Gaudin
BULLPEN:
RHP Sergio Romo (closer)
LHP Jeremy Affeldt
LHP Javier Lopez
LHP Jose Mijares
RHP Jean Machi
RHP Sandy Rosario
RHP Jake Dunning
CATCHERS:
Buster Posey
Guillermo Quiroz
INFIELDERS:
1B Brandon Belt
2B Marco Scutaro
SS Brandon Crawford
3B Joaquin Arias
INF Tony Abreu
INF Nick Noonan
INF/C Hector Sanchez
OUTFIELDERS:
LF Andres Torres
CF Gregor Blanco
RF Hunter Pence
OF Juan Perez
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