SAN DIEGO — Shortstop Willy Adames is not in the starting lineup for the Giants’ Tuesday night matchup against the San Diego Padres due to right side soreness, per manager Bob Melvin.
“You can see it on some of the swings the last couple days,” Melvin said. “He wants to play. It was a bit of a fist fight to talk him out of it. You don’t mess with a side, oblique kind of thing.”
Infielder Christian Koss, who is hitting .272 with three home runs and three steals this season, is slated to start in Adames’ place. Koss has primarily spent time at second base this season, playing only 12 innings at shortstop in the majors.
Per Melvin, the ailment has impacted Adames’ production at the plate in recent days. Over 16 games in August, Adames is hitting a paltry .123/.197/.262 with 25 strikeouts over 71 plate appearances (35.2%). In July, by contrast, Adames had a slash line of .337/.422/.674 with seven home runs and 21 RBIs, far and away his most productive month as a Giant.
Adames leads the Giants in games played (124) this season entering Tuesday. The 29-year-old has missed only one other game this season, sitting on June 8 against the Atlanta Braves at home as part of a scheduled off day.
Later this week, Adames will return to Milwaukee for the first time since signing a seven-year, $182 million contract to join the Giants. He spent three-and-a-half seasons with the Brewers. During his time in Milwaukee, Adames had a .780 OPS with 107 home runs and 348 RBIs over 548 games.
Miller shut down for two weeks
Left-handed reliever Erik Miller (left elbow sprain) underwent an MRI on Monday that revealed inflammation in his left elbow, the Giants announced.
“Unfortunately, it just kind of got back to where we have to be careful with it,” Melvin said.
Miller will be re-evaluated after being shut down for two weeks. Given where the Giants are in the calendar, there’s a possibility that Miller doesn’t pitch in the majors again this season.
“If you do the math, two weeks then we’re in September,” Melvin said. “(He’d have to) ramp it back up a little bit. We’ll see.”
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Miller, who has a 1.50 ERA over 30 innings this season, landed on the injury list on July 5 and did not make his first rehab appearance until Aug. 8. The left-hander was nearing his return but felt discomfort in his elbow following his outing with Triple-A Sacramento on Aug. 15.
In Miller’s absence, Joey Lucchesi and Matt Gage have served as the Giants’ left-handed presences in the bullpen. Lucchesi, a Newark native, owns a 3.13 ERA over 23 innings, while Gage is posting a 0.45 ERA over 20 innings.
Chapman continues making progress
Matt Chapman (right hand inflammation) hit soft toss and off a batting tee on Tuesday, and is scheduled to take batting practice on the field in San Diego on Wednesday. On Monday, Chapman took grounders on the field prior to the Giants’ 4-3 win. Chapman was placed on the 10-day injured list on August 15 (retroactive to August 13) and could potentially miss the minimum amount of time.