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Return of the Mac: Giants place Slater on disabled list, recall Williamson

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The Mac is back.

After Giants’ left fielder Austin Slater re-aggravated a hip flexor injury on Friday evening, San Francisco placed the rookie on the 10-day disabled list and recalled outfielder Mac Williamson from AAA Sacramento.

Williamson made his Major League debut back in 2015 and has spent parts of the last three seasons shuttling back and forth between San Francisco and Sacramento.

Slater initially injured his hip flexor playing the outfield two weeks ago, but only missed a handful of games and avoided a stint on the disabled list. However, on Friday evening, Slater re-injured his hip flexor running out a groundball in the eighth inning of the Giants’ 6-1 loss to the Miami Marlins, and manager Bruce Bochy said after the game he would need to spend some time on the disabled list.

The Giants are officially calling Slater’s injury a right groin strain, but after Friday’s game, Slater said he injured the same area he hurt a few weeks ago.

With Williamson waiting in the wings at AAA, San Francisco made the decision to recall the power-hitting outfielder a few hours before Saturday’s contest against Miami. By receiving the call to come back to the Major League level, Williamson avoided having to play a doubleheader in brutal Sacramento heat on Saturday.

Williamson is 5-for-31 with one home run and four RBIs in 10 games with San Francisco this season, and he’s posted a .238 average over 189 at-bats with the River Cats this year.

The Jacksonville, Florida native was expected to compete for the starting left field job in Spring Training with fellow outfielder Jarrett Parker, but Williamson suffered a quad injury in late March that kept him from joining the Giants’ Opening Day roster.

Parker started for the Giants in left field at the beginning of the season, but sustained a broken clavicle after crashing into the outfield wall at AT&T Park back in April. Parker is currently on a rehab assignment with AAA Sacramento, and he was a potential candidate to re-join the Giants when Slater suffered his injury.

Giants fans have also been pining to see the organization’s top prospect, outfielder Chris Shaw, at the Major League level this season, but for the time being, Shaw will remain with AAA Sacramento.