SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — When the most dramatically failed physical in baseball history scuttled the Giants’ $350 million agreement with Carlos Correa in December, it left Mitch Haniger as the club’s biggest-ticket item among the seven free agents it successfully signed. It also left the Giants clamoring to sell a widely improved but less heralded roster to its less-than-satisfied fans.
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This doesn’t help: Haniger could be on the injured list on Opening Day.
A day after the 32-year-old outfielder was scratched from an exhibition game because of left oblique tightness, an MRI exam showed a Grade 1 strain. That’s the mildest form the injury can take — Haniger’s discomfort was so minor that he expressed surprise a strain showed up at all — but the Giants plan to be extra cautious with a player who has exceeded 70 games just once in the past four seasons.
Haniger will rest and receive treatment for five to seven days before the Giants reevaluate him.
“Obliques are challenging,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “Sometimes they feel like they’re 100 percent healed. But they’re not always 100 percent healed.”
It could be worse. A Grade 2 strain, like the one the Cubs’ Seiya Suzuki sustained, likely would’ve shelved Haniger for most of April — an especially rigorous month in terms of opponent quality on the Giants’ schedule. While Haniger said he was confident he will return in time for Opening Day, “We’ve got to be sure to listen to my body, listen to the trainers, and do it right so that this doesn’t come back up.”
Even if Haniger makes a quick recovery, the injury serves as a reminder that the Giants’ laudable depth isn’t spread out evenly. There’s an apparent imbalance on their forecasted Opening Day roster. Their infield bats are very right-handed while their outfield has a greater surplus of left-handed hitters. And another right-handed hitting outfielder in addition to Haniger, Austin Slater, is dealing with a bout of elbow inflammation.
The Giants have Stephen Piscotty in camp as a potential depth option. They also told impressive Rule 5 draftee Blake Sabol, a catcher/outfielder in the Pirates system last year, to be ready to take fly balls in addition to the crash course he’s continuing to receive behind the plate. Sabol is a left-handed hitter, but he’s barreling up every pitcher he’s encountering this spring. He went 3-for-3 with a bunt single, stolen base and home run Saturday to boost his Cactus League average to .529. He also drew a pair of walks. His third homer of the spring came off former Giants right-hander Shelby Miller and was no cheapie.
“Who was that guy?” Miller asked. “He smoked that one.”
Blake Sabol’s third hit of the day was a homer. It’s hard to make a team as a Rule 5 catcher, but he’s doing all he can do. He’s 9-for-17 with three homers this spring. pic.twitter.com/3j3IzgSZq1
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) March 11, 2023
Giants coaches and executives continue to love everything about Sabol’s skill set along with his inquisitive approach in camp. He wasn’t sure whether bunting for a hit would be frowned upon in an exhibition. So he asked a few veteran players including Piscotty.
“I didn’t know if that would get me in trouble,” Sabol said. “They were like, ‘No, man, totally do it.’ With (the Dodgers) being a division opponent, now they know I might do it. Maybe that brings the third baseman in. And I go the other way pretty well. That might buy me the two inches I need for the ball to sneak through.
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“A lot of the (ways) I see my game I feel fit the philosophies here. I feel very comfortable and right at home.”
As Kapler often reminds reporters, evaluations and roster decisions do not hinge on spring training results. But Sabol keeps looking more and more like a roster fit given his confident approach combined with athleticism on a roster that lacks team speed. And the more populated the Giants training room becomes, the more opportunities there will be to keep an intriguing player whom they would otherwise lose if he isn’t on the active roster.
Under Rule 5 provisions, the Giants would have to offer Sabol back to the Pirates for $50,000 if they fail to roster him. Why not simply work out a trade, which would allow them to keep Sabol with no attachments and a full complement of minor-league options? Because there’s an intermediate step. Sabol would have to clear waivers before he could be offered back to the Pirates. Another club could claim him and inherit his Rule 5 provisions. And given that the Giants essentially traded up to take him, they had to anticipate that other clubs coveted him as well.
Especially when he’s tearing up the exhibition schedule.
“I don’t think you can expect anybody to come in and produce the way he’s produced,” Kapler said. “Blake is really locked in right now … and this is spring training. His base running is what really impresses me. Every ball he hits, it’s like the game is on the line.”
Aside from Slater’s elbow, the Giants were having a nice, quiet camp until the past 48 hours. In addition to Haniger’s injury, third baseman David Villar was scratched from Saturday’s home exhibition against the Los Angeles Dodgers because of left hip tightness. Then right-hander Alex Cobb got smoked on the left knee by a line drive off the bat of the Dodgers’ Miguel Vargas to start the fourth inning.
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Cobb told reporters that he initially thought the line drive fractured his kneecap and his season would be over before it started. But he recovered from the momentary shock, was able to walk off the field under his own power and X-rays ruled out anything more significant than a contusion. He might not miss a turn in the rotation.
Scary moment in Scottsdale, as Alex Cobb took a hard-hit comebacker off what appears to be his left knee. He walked off under his own power.
📹 Here is the play: pic.twitter.com/umWTGtw9I1
— Evan Webeck (@EvanWebeck) March 11, 2023
Prior to the line drive, Cobb was flashing impressive stuff. He struck out five and allowed one hit in three innings and his power splitter sent several Dodgers hitters muttering back to the bench.
As for Villar, he was officially 1-for-14 with eight strikeouts this spring — plus a homer and single against Team USA, which do not count in the Cactus League stats — and made his first start at second base Friday.
Villar’s injury isn’t expected to sideline him for long. But if it does, at least the Giants have coverage with J.D. Davis, Wilmer Flores and even Casey Schmitt, who started at shortstop Saturday.
Because if there’s one place on the depth chart where the Giants are thinnest, it’s their options behind 36-year-old shortstop Brandon Crawford.
(Photo of Mitch Haniger: Rick Scuteri / USA Today)