SAN FRANCISCO–Less than an hour after the Giants fell a season-high 27 games under .500 with a 6-1 loss to the Oakland A’s, San Francisco elected to overhaul its depth at the third base position.
The most significant move San Francisco made late Wednesday evening was designating veteran Conor Gillaspie for assignment. After starting Wednesday’s contest against the A’s, Gillaspie went 0-for-3 and hit into a 3-6-3 double play to end the seventh inning. Though he’s hit two pinch hit home runs for San Francisco in the last two weeks, his average dipped down to .163 in the loss.
Aside from cutting ties with Gillaspie, San Francisco optioned its other third baseman on the 25-man roster, Jae-gyun Hwang to AAA Sacramento. After starting his Giants career with four hits in his first 11 at-bats, Hwang was just 4-for-his-last-40 and struggled mightily as he attempted to adjust to Major League pitching.
With two third basemen on their way out, the Giants promoted 23-year-old Ryder Jones from AAA Sacramento. Jones will likely be San Francisco’s starting third baseman for the foreseeable future, unless Pablo Sandoval forces the Giants’ hand with his play for the Sacramento River Cats in the coming days.
The final roster move San Francisco made on Wednesday evening was activating outfielder Jarrett Parker from the 60-day disabled list. Parker was injured on April 15 when he crashed into the outfield wall at AT&T Park, and finished an extended rehab stint in Sacramento on Tuesday.