Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
It’s possible the Giants will be shorthanded to begin the 2021 season. Or perhaps short-footed.
Brandon Belt, after offseason heel surgery to remove a bone spur, is an uncertainty to begin the season, Farhan Zaidi said Thursday, calling his availability for Opening Day “a possibility, but it’s not a certainty.”
Belt, who will be 33 in April, had surgery Oct. 8 in Wisconsin before returning to his Texas home to begin physical therapy. He dealt with the heel pain all of last season — his best one, at that — and had to use a walking boot briefly in summer training.
The Giants have seen videos of him taking swings and “he looked great physically,” Zaidi said. But before camp begins with a Feb. 21 full-squad workout, the club doesn’t know.
“I think everybody’s happy about where he is — we just won’t know if he’s going to be ready for Opening Day,” the president of baseball operations said over Zoom.
A big contingency plan is the reason Zaidi was speaking publicly Thursday. Tommy La Stella, whose signing to a three-year deal was announced, played 10 games at first last season and has the ability to move all throughout the infield. The lefty hitter immediately becomes a strong option to play first base on April 1 in Seattle. Although if the Mariners open with, say, southpaw Marco Gonzales, perhaps righty-hitting Wilmer Flores will be the pick.
That would be the most likely platoon if Belt cannot begin the season, which would make Donovan Solano the everyday second baseman. Of course, this is a lot of “ifs.”
And if Belt is healthy, the Giants will need him. He received a few MVP votes last season, in which he posted the best OPS (1.015) of his life and looked renewed under the guidance of hitting coaches who believe in his careful approach. Even if his leg and feet issues did not enjoy the same resurgence.