DENVER — On Monday, the San Francisco Giants made a flurry of roster moves involving some key pieces of the team ahead of opening a three-game series in Denver against the Colorado Rockies.
What the roster moves made by the San Francisco Giants on Monday mean for the team moving forward
One of the most noticeable transactions made by the San Francisco Giants involved the return of Tommy La Stella from the injured list and his rehabilitation stint of nine Triple-A games. He was immediately slotted into the lineup by manager Gabe Kapler on Monday, batting eighth as the team’s designated hitter in his first action of the 2022 season.
Kapler said La Stella’s return from Achilles surgery and the following inflammation will be a boost for his squad.
“He’s one of those calm, even presences that makes our clubhouse, our dugout, and our roster just more stable, more even, more steady,” Kapler said. “We’ll find ways to ease him back into the second base position and probably get him some reps over time at third base.”
The 33-year-old La Stella went 9-for-29 (.310) and posted a 1.015 OPS during his time in Triple-A as he ramped up to return to San Francisco.
“Tommy is one of the better plate appearances in baseball. It’s just as simple as that,” Kapler said. “He has great discipline, fouls pitches off, and is extremely competitive in the batter’s box.”
To make room for La Stella, outfielder Luis González was optioned to Triple-A. In 73 plate appearances this season, González was slashing .349/.397/.492 but was a victim of San Francisco’s roster crunch.
Kapler called the sending down of Gonzalez “one of the more challenging discussions” that he has had, noting that the 26-year-old outfielder was not only a presence at the plate, but also a weapon on the base paths. He also pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief in Sunday night’s blowout road loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
In pitching news, the Giants moved right-hander Anthony DeSclafani to the 60-day injured list with right ankle inflammation. Kapler said the move was as much about DeSclafani’s future with the team as it was what he could bring to the Giants in 2022.
“We got together and discussed that a long, slow ramp for a pitcher is the most protective thing that we can do for him,” Kapler said. “To accelerate the program in any way would have done Tony a disservice and to do the Giants over a long period of time a disservice as well.
“Tony is our pitcher and we are his team for three years,” Kapler said, referring to the contract signed by DeSclafani in the offseason. “We definitely want to have him back as soon as possible and making contributions. We also want those contributions to last over a long period of time.”
Kapler said the plan with DeSclafani was to build his back up slowly on the mound. With the move, the Giants and DeSclafani will have time to work on that build-up as he likely won’t be back with the team until at least after the All-Star break.
DeSclafani has made three starts for the Giants this season, the last coming on April 21 before being placed on the 10-day injured list the next day. He has a 6.08 ERA and 1.80 WHIP in 13.1 innings of work.
In other roster moves, San Francisco recalled right-hander Mauricio Llovera from Triple-A for the second time this season. He has pitched in four games for San Francisco this year out of the bullpen, posting a 2.25 ERA in 4.0 innings. Additionally, right-hander Yunior Marte was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento after last night’s loss by the Giants in St. Louis.