Miguel Gomez taxis into SF; (deep, painful sigh) Austin Slater sent back to AAA

Welcome back, Miguel Gomez. The Giants are in dire need of a middle infielder following the indefinite loss of Alen Hanson and they are adamant about needing 13 pitchers on the 25-man roster, so Austin Slater, who is good, has been sent back to Sacramento to make room.

Gomez will fill the Alen Hanson role as the switch-hitting backup second baseman and Kelby Tomlinson remaining the emergency shortstop. Brandon Crawford must be surrounded with bubble wrap whenever he’s not on the field.

Gomez doesn’t provide a lot of dimension on offensive. As a 25-year old in AA it’s a bad sign that he has a 5:1 strikeout to walk ratio. But he’s comfortable on the middle infield, more so than Austin Slater, who can hit, but offense is not what the Giants need right now.

He’s the backup to the emergency backup. So, keep the expectations low and just remember that in 2017, he had the happiest smile in all of photo day.

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports