When the weekend began for San Francisco, Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy had the same number of outfielders as he did third basemen on his 25-man roster.
With Eduardo Nunez, Conor Gillaspie and Jae-gyun Hwang all capable of starting a game at the hot corner for San Francisco, Bochy had no shortage of options for how to set the Giants’ lineup and manage his team’s bench.
By the middle of Tuesday evening’s ballgame, the Giants’ skipper was down to one third baseman, and a growing number of question marks surrounding the position for the immediate future.
In the fifth inning of San Francisco’s 11-3 win over Pittsburgh, Bochy pinch hit for Nunez, who departed the game and received hugs from his teammates and coaches. One of the most popular players in the Giants’ clubhouse, and the team’s hottest hitter, was headed to the Boston Red Sox.
Nunez was the second third baseman to leave the Giants this week, as Hwang was optioned to AAA Sacramento on Saturday. So in the top of the sixth inning, with nowhere else to turn, Bochy called on Gillaspie to play third base.
Suddenly, a manager who had trouble finding at-bats for all of his third baseman was left wondering how he’s going to navigate his lineup card for the foreseeable future.
Though perhaps unpopular with a certain faction of the Giants’ fan base, the decision to trade Nunez makes sense for San Francisco for a variety of reasons. Even with a win on Tuesday, San Francisco now sits 24 games under .500. Additionally, Nunez will hit free agency this offseason, meaning a trade would allow San Francisco to capitalize on Nunez’s value and add prospects to help replenish its farm system. Finally, the Giants believe Christian Arroyo is the third baseman of the future, so this clears a spot for Arroyo to take over.
Except right now, Arroyo is recovering from surgery to heal a fractured hand. And his best case scenario is a September return.
So what can San Francisco do in the short-term? Well, that’s where trading Nunez becomes complicated.
A quick solution would be calling Hwang back up to the Major League level. The problem there? Hwang was optioned four days ago, and unless he takes the place of an injured player, he can’t return to the Giants until 10 days have passed since his option.
Play Gillaspie every day? The eight-year MLB veteran isn’t an everyday player, and he’s a career .204 hitter against left-handed pitchers. Will Gillaspie start on Wednesday against righty Trevor Williams? Absolutely. How about this weekend, when the Giants head to Los Angeles?
“We’re facing three lefties down there in LA so you know, unfortunate part of this is Jae (Hwang) just went down but the unfortunate part of this is because of a trade, you can’t bring him back up,” Bochy said. “We’ll talk about who can come up here and help us.”
Those lefty-lefty matchups don’t sound so enticing against a Dodgers team that barely has to play .500 ball the rest of the way to win 100 games.
There’s an obvious solution running through everyone’s minds right now, and he’s waiting at AAA Sacramento. Pablo Sandoval.
But no, Bochy indicated that’s very unlikely.
“We’re not going to bring Pablo here until we think he’s ready,” Bochy said. “So I’ll sit down with Bobby (Evans) once I’m done here.”
With Arroyo out, Hwang unavailable, Gillaspie unable to hit lefties and Sandoval unprepared, the Giants are caught between a rock and a hard place. Which is essentially where they’ve been stuck all season anyway.
In all likelihood, Bochy will attempt to piece together the lineup on a daily basis with the hopes that at some point, a part-time player forces his way into a full-time role. On Wednesday, Gillaspie will likely start, and reserve infielder Kelby Tomlinson can come off the bench.
This weekend in Los Angeles, Tomlinson’s ability to hit left-handed pitching should help him earn a start at third base, where he’s played at in 11 career games.
After a short time passes, Hwang will be eligible to return to the active roster, and he could very well play his way back into a consistent role.
And of course, Sandoval’s return to San Francisco could be expedited. Though it’s unlikely the Giants would consider moving Sandoval up from Sacramento within the next week, Bochy and the team’s management may not have enough time to allow Sandoval to rack up the 40-to-50 at-bats they wanted to see him take.
At this point in the year, a Sandoval reunion that at one time felt so utterly unrealistic is now all but a done deal. If Sandoval shows even a hint of the talents that helped him hold down the fort at third base during the Giants’ three World Series runs, then yes, Panda hats should once again infiltrate AT&T Park. The Giants had nothing to lose and at least something to gain by trading Nunez, and they’ll justify a Sandoval promotion with the same message. If it’s a free look, why not?
In the meantime, though, San Francisco will have to deal with a harsh reality. Nunez was one of the few players performing at a high level, and now he’s gone. In the end, the Giants’ future at third base holds Arroyo, but in the meantime, it’s an empty space with a dark cloud hanging over a spot where the sun used to shine.