Jae-gyun Hwang getting called up, Conor Gillaspie going on DL

Jae-gyun Hwang isn’t going to save the Giants’ season. But he’ll hopefully make it that much more watchable. The Giants are calling up the 29-year-old third baseman according to multiple reports, and he’ll replace Conor Gillaspie, who will return to the DL with back problems.

Hwang isn’t going to be the superstar he was in Korea, when he hit .335/.394/.570 with 27 homers for the Lotte Giants, but he had an opt-out in his contract that he planned to exercise if he wasn’t up by July 1, and the Giants are having the kind of season that encourages experimentation. Which is the gentlest way anyone can possibly describe the 2017 season, by far.

Hwang was having a fantastic June, hitting with patience and power, and another team was likely to snatch him up as a free agent if the Giants let him go. He’ll be replacing Gillaspie, who was scratched from Monday night’s lineup with continuing back problems. But while the 25-man roster move is clear, the Giants will also need to make room on the 40-man roster. Chase Johnson had Tommy John surgery in May and hasn’t been moved to the 60-day DL yet, though there’s a chance that Albert Suarez could move there, too, as he hasn’t pitched in 2017.

Until Eduardo Nuñez comes back, it looks like the Giants will hold some cruelly limited tryouts at third base between Hwang and Ryder Jones, and while there’s no way to feel comfortable with a winner of a five- or 10-game roster battle like that, there’s more to be gained with Jones developing in Triple-A in his first year at the level. My guess is that Hwang is going to stick around for a spell, even with Nuñez back, with Austin Slater picking up some starts in center against left-handers.

Welcome to the season of “Throw it to the wall, see if it hits.” It’s a lot better than the dull panic of the early season, when Justin Ruggiano and Aaron Hill were given a shot, with regrettable results. The Giants could have a lineup that looks like this soon:

CF - Slater
2B - Panik
1B - Belt
C - Posey
SS - Crawford
RF - Pence
LF - Jones
3B - Hwang

And I’ll tell you, that’s a lineup that makes me curious enough to watch. Even if I didn’t have to. Which I do. I’m not sure how many runs they’ll score, but it’ll at least keep us entertained.