Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
The Giants’ infield depth is being put to a test that the club’s front office studied for all offseason.
Jason Vosler hopes to prove that Farhan Zaidi and Scott Harris chose correctly.
The mostly corner infielder was called up Saturday, about an hour before first pitch, and added to a major league roster for the first time in his life. He took pregame ground balls at third base, which Evan Longoria has not played since exiting Thursday’s game early with a tight hamstring, though it was Jarlin Garcia who was placed on the injured list as the corresponding move. The lefty reliever, who had not pitched since Tuesday, has a left groin strain, the Giants announced.
That puts the Giants at a more-normal alignment of 13 pitchers and 13 position players, with two of the latter being the banged-up Longoria and Brandon Crawford, who was scratched with right quad tightness. Mauricio Dubon was starting at shortstop against the Marlins at Oracle Park, and it was unclear who would step in if something happened to Dubon.
Thairo Estrada should have his phone nearby, but it was Vosler who got the first call, perhaps signaling the Giants’ concern level for Longoria.
Vosler, a 27-year-old who grew up in New Jersey, has bounced around the minors and posted solid numbers — especially against righties for the lefty slugger — but had been blocked with the Cubs and then with the Padres, who had Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer at the corners. The Giants signed him to a major league deal anyway, their first addition of the offseason.
The club had tried him in left and second, too, throughout spring training as they looked to find ways for his bat to debut. He hit well in the Cactus League (.304 batting average) but did not display the plate discipline the Giants wanted (15 strikeouts, two walks). That was the focus as he broke camp with Sacramento and not San Francisco.
He did not have to wait too long, a 16th-round pick in 2014 finally getting his chance.
“Definitely something I’ve dreamed about since I was a little kid,” Vosler said in spring training.