SF Giants injury updates: LaMonte Wade Jr., Wilmer Flores, more
During his pregame media availability on over the past two days, SF Giants manager Gabe Kapler has given updates on several injured players, first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr., infielder Wilmer Flores, left-handed reliever Scott Alexander, and right-handed pitcher Ross Stripling.
SF Giants first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. squares up for a bunt. (2023)
Darren Yamashita -USA TODAY Sports
Wade, who was scratched from the lineup on Tuesday with right side tightness, was trending toward being available off the bench on Wednesday night, per Kapler.
"He took some swings in the cage, looked good," Kapler said in reference to Wade. "Not quite fully over the hump but feel really good about his chances to help us win in the game tonight at some point."
"He's trending in the right direction," Kapler said about Flores prior to the game on Tuesday. "I don't anticipate this being much longer than his designated time on the IL. Obviously can't see the whole staircase but feel good about his ability to come back at some point in that Toronto series."
Flores was placed on the 10-day injured list with a foot contusion last week and is eligible to return on June 27th. He is hitting .258/.324/.452 with nine doubles and seven home runs in 53 games on the season.
Kapler said Alexander was doing "a little better" but remains a ways off from readiness.
As for Stripling, the veteran righty will be heading to Stockton for a rehab appearance with the San Jose Giants on Thursday. Kapler said that assuming all goes well, the team hopes he can go five innings. Stripling seems to be on a trajectory to return to the active roster at some point next week.
Stripling has dealt with some struggles trying to corral his arsenal as he's worked up to a return, but he told Giants Baseball Insider on Wednesday that he's feeling much closer to where he hopes to be than he was a week ago. In fact, he added that he thinks his back injury had driven some of his early-season struggles more than he realized.
"I think that my back injury was a little bit worse than even I thought, mainly by how long it's taken," Stripling said. "But I did it in the offseason, and I thought I got it to a better place than I did. I muscled through it until it got to where I had to say something. So now I actually feel good physically, and I'm like 'this is what I should've felt like.'"
Stripling, who signed a two-year, $25 million deal with the Giants this offseason, posted a 7.94 ERA in 32.1 innings pitched (nine appearances) with 26 strikeouts, 10 walks, and 10 home runs allowed prior to landing on the injured list. However, he has a 3.94 career ERA (4.06 FIP) across eight big-league seasons.
"I've been throwing off a mound now for two weeks and feel good about where it's at," Stripling added. "I feel like most stuff is dialed in. Obviously, you get in, face big-league hitters, and the eye test will tell you where it's really at. But I've been doing this for a while, and I feel like it's in a good spot."
The SF Giants have been depleted by injuries over the past couple of weeks. However, it appears that they could soon be welcoming some contributors back into the fold. Of course, with several young players performing, that will force president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi to make some difficult roster decisions.
