Giants add Brandon Belt, Evan Longoria, and Steven Duggar

The San Francisco Giants made a series of moves on Thursday before their series finale against the San Diego Padres. Some of the moves were expected, and others not so much.

The team added first baseman Brandon Belt and third baseman Evan Longoria, who came off the Injured List. They also recalled outfielder Steven Duggar.

To make room they reassigned outfielders Jaylin Davis and Joe McCarthy, while designating Dany Jimenez for assignment.

We knew that Belt and Longoria were coming, but the Duggar addition is a surprise. It doesn’t seem like the new regime is nearly as high on Duggar as the old one was, and there’s not too much of a reason to think he can be a productive hitter at the Major League level. However, he is a good defender, and the Giants could certainly use some of those.

The subtractions are where it gets a bit more surprising though. McCarthy was an obvious one, though the team remains high on him.

Davis was definitely vulnerable, as he had gone 2-12 with 6 strikeouts and 1 home run. With Belt’s return, Darin Ruf can play in the outfield more, which makes at-bats for Davis even harder to come by. I’d still prefer him to Duggar, but that’s just me. He’ll be back before long.

Jimenez is even more surprising, since he’s a Rule 5 selection, which means the Giants now have to return him to the Toronto Blue Jays. I’m not sure what they saw that made them like him enough to select him, keep him through both camps, and add him to the roster, but not give him more than 1.1 innings of leash. It’s the same thing they did with Connor Joe, and it’s a little weird.

Either way, it opens up a spot on the 40-man roster, and you can probably guess where that spot will go.

Also of note: Outfielder Jose Siri and infielder Kean Wong cleared waivers, and have been outrighted to the alternate training site. They remain with the organization.

With a right-hander on the mound for the Padres tonight, all three returning Giants are in the lineup: