Evan Longoria isn’t going to watch the 2022 season slip away from the dugout.
Longoria, who exited Sunday’s series finale in Minnesota with right hamstring tightness, won’t play Monday against the Padres but plans to test out his leg Tuesday. More time on the injured list doesn’t seem likely — just take his word for it.
“I’m going to try and play through it until it rips off or I can’t play anymore,” Longoria said in the Giants’ clubhouse Monday.
At 36, Longoria is the Giants’ oldest player. He might also be their most respected leader and hottest hitter.
“Sounds like him,” Alex Wood said when told of Longoria’s defiant statement.
In August, Longoria is hitting .289 with three home runs and a .918 OPS. Against the Rockies in Coors Field last week, he went 3-for-4 with a grand slam and multiple dazzling plays in the field.
Wood said Longoria is playing as well as he has since they’ve been teammates. His 129 OPS+ on the season — the best in his career since 2013 in Tampa Bay — concurs.
But the Giants are a season-worst four games under .500 and 7.5 games out of a wild-card spot. Fangraphs gives them a 0.8% chance of making the playoffs.
SF begins a series against the Padres coming off a 2-6 road trip — one that manager Gabe Kapler described as “shitty.”
“Knowing that our backs are more against the wall today than they have been at any other part of the season,” Kapler said.
It’s far from an ideal position for San Francisco. But it’s the type of challenge, Kapler said, that reveals who the “toughest competitors are.”
“The real character starts to emerge,” Kapler said.
It’s clear Longoria fits the bill.
“Those are the guys you want to go to war with,” Wood said.
Longoria suffered this current hamstring injury after doubling and scoring from second. The soreness is in a similar spot to the one that sidelined him for two weeks in late July. He said that helps him know how to manage this one.
When dealing with that prior right hamstring strain, Giants coaches recommended Longoria scale back some sprinting on the base paths. That’s a foreign concept for the all-out infielder, but wise advice to try to keep him on the field.
Longoria has hit the IL three separate times this year. On Aug. 15, after hitting his first home run of the month in a win against Arizona, Longoria admitted he hasn’t been 100% healthy. But he said guys “suiting up and playing through” bumps and bruises has been a “rallying cry.”
“To me, we have the most grueling season in professional sports,” Wood said. “We play every single day, 162 games a year. Six month season. It’s extremely, extremely long. For lack of a better saying, you’ve got to nut up or shut up. You post or you don’t.”
Longoria, in his 15th season, has talked openly this year about the prospect of retirement. He has a $13 million club option with a $5 million buyout.
But none of that factors in here.
“It wouldn’t matter if I was in my second year or my 15th year,” Longoria said. “I’m going to try to help as much as I can, being on the field right now with where we are in the season. If it goes good, hopefully it goes good. If it doesn’t, I went down trying.”