Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
Joe Panik wore a different uniform for the first time in his major league life Friday.
Bruce Bochy, the only big-league manager Panik has known, was glad it was one that meant something to the longtime Giants second baseman.
“Really happy. Sent Joe a text. That’s awesome. He’s home,” Bochy said Friday of New York-native Panik, who was batting eighth for the Mets. “… He’ll help them. Saw he’s in the lineup today. Happy for Joe that it’s worked out well.”
The Mets picked him up as soon as Panik cleared waivers, and he told reporters in New York he had returned to his home state once he packed up his things in San Francisco. The Giants DFA’d him Tuesday, days after trading for Scooter Gennett, cutting ties with a World Series champion with just a .627 OPS this season.
It sounds as if Panik, too, is OK with how things worked out.
“I was ecstatic because you never know in these types of situations what’s gonna happen,” Panik said, via the New York Post. “It couldn’t have worked out any better for myself. A lot of family, a lot of friends in the area. For me, to be coming to a club that’s hot right now, in a playoff push, it’s very exciting. For me, it’s a great situation.”
Alex Dickerson, who swung in the cage for the first time Thursday, came through OK.
“He felt good. The swings in the cage, played some catch, ran curves,” Bochy said before the Giants played the Phillies at Oracle Park. “[Friday] we’ll ramp it up even more. So far, so good.”
Bochy did not have a target date for Dickerson’s return yet.
The Giants activated Travis Bergen, the Rule 5 relief pitcher whose shoulder strain had him rehabbing since May 17.
Before he went down, the lefty was a multi-inning threat, which Bochy still envisions.
“Think he can handle it,” Bochy said. “He’s healthy now. I don’t look at him as just a one-inning guy.”
Bochy on Kyle Barraclough, whom the Giants claimed from the Nationals: “A good arm. Sometimes a change of scenery’s good for a player. You have to like his stuff.”