SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco Giants expect Tyler Fitzgerald to be out for at least two weeks after the infielder was placed on the 10-day injured list with a fractured rib.
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Fitzgerald sustained the injury on April 25 when, playing second base, he tried to stop a ground ball hit into right field by Joc Pederson during the Giants’ April 25 home game against the Texas Rangers.
Fitzgerald thought it was a bone bruise and missed the next two games. He returned to play two games against the Padres this week, but felt the injury progressively worsen and could not do a sit-up or a push-up.
“I tried to play through it, and it just kind of feels like you’re getting stabbed on every little movement,” Fitzgerald said. “Especially when I would swing and get to extension, was when I would really feel it. Kind of started to hurt when I was running and fielding, and was kind of taking over every part of baseball.”
An ensuing MRI revealed the damage, which was frustrating for Fitzgerald. In the 13 games before the injury, he was 17-for-45 (.378) with seven RBI and a 1.071 OPS. For the season, Fitzgerald is hitting .284 with a .773 OPS.
“It hurts,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said of Fitzgerald’s injury. “Since a little bit of a slow start, he’s done really well. He tried to play through it. … and then you get an MRI, you see what’s going on there, and you appreciate him for trying to play and gut it out. With something like that .. we’re probably looking at least a couple weeks.”
With Fitzgerald out, the Giants recalled left-handed bat Brett Wisely from Triple-A Sacramento, and had right-handed bat Christian Koss start Thursday’s game at second base against the Colorado Rockies and left-hander Kyle Freeland.
Melvin said that doesn’t automatically mean he’ll platoon Koss and Wisely. Wisely will play at least one of the next three games, “and just see where it goes as far as performance,” Melvin said.
Wisely, who has played 142 games with the Giants over the last two seasons, was hitting .235 at Triple-A Sacramento with five homers and 19 RBI in 27 games.
MELVIN ON HARRISON: Left-handed pitcher Kyle Harrison continues to impress at Triple-A Sacramento, but whether he’ll soon be back in the big leagues is unclear.
Harrison struck out seven with no walks and allowed just one earned run over five innings in Sacramento’s 16-6 loss to Reno on Wednesday night at Sutter Health Park. Of his 80 pitches, 55 were strikes, with his fastball touching 96-98 mph.
Asked if Harrison could soon be an option for the Giants, Melvin said, “I think he could be an option at any point in time. But what we have here is what we’ve had here. We’ve played pretty well. We’re trying to create an environment of some stability.
“Now, obviously you’re going to want to get the best possible compliment that you can here, but it’s good to see that (Harrison’s) velocity is picking up, because for a guy like him, that’s important for more swings and misses. So, probably his best performance, we’ll see where we go.”
Harrison made 24 starts for the Giants last year and was a candidate to be the Giants’ fifth starter to begin the season. But the left-hander lost ground as an illness he had right before the start of camp caused him to lose between 10 and 15 pounds. He was optioned on March 22.
Harrison appears to have fully recovered in terms of how many innings he is able to pitch.
“It just feels like his stuff’s getting better and better, so he’s trending in the right direction for him, and that’s a good sign for us,” Melvin said.
PLAN FOR LEE: Outfielder Jung Hoo Lee started Thursday’s game on the Giants’ bench, and will continue to get scheduled days off, considering he hasn’t played a ton since the start of last season.
“We want to keep him healthy,” Melvin said. “There are going to be scheduled off days for him. Doesn’t mean he won’t show up at some point in time in (Thursday’s) game. It’s always tough not to have him in the lineup, especially after we lost a couple of games. But we have to look at this thing throughout the entire season.”