San Francisco Giants First Baseman Could Head to Injured List After Scratch

The San Francisco Giants might be without one of their first basemen for the time being with a stint on the injured list reportedly a strong possibility.

Sep 29, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants third baseman Casey Schmitt (10) slides home during the seventh inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Oracle Park. | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants might be without one of their infielders for the time being.

According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, Casey Schmitt is likely heading to the injured list after straining his oblique during a pre-game batting cage session on Friday.

Schmitt was initially slated to play first base and hit in the sixth spot in the batting order for the contest against the Los Angeles Angels, but was removed from the lineup in favor of Lamont Wade Jr. after the injury.

So far this year, Schmitt's role has largely been to platoon with Wade Jr. depending on the pitching matchup, with Schmitt drawing in against southpaws and Wade Jr. facing right-handed hitters.

Both players have struggled to this point in the campaign in these roles.

Schmitt owns a .174/.208/.261 slash line and is yet to hit a home run, while Wade Jr. sits at .096/.213/.50 with just one homer.

The lack of production from the first base position has not hampered San Francisco too much, as the Giants have plated the fourth most runs in all of MLB.

The group sits in the No. 12 spot in league-wide OPS, so some regression could be coming to their run-scoring output if they do not improve upon that.

With Schmitt sidelined, the Giants will likely lean even more on Wade Jr. at first, though they could pluck Wilmer Flores from his usual spot as the designated hitter to play some games in the field.

Flores leads the team with six home runs and 23 runs batted in.