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By 9 a.m. PT on Thursday, the San Francisco Giants needed to trim their active roster from 30 players to 28.
There was a lot of question as to what the team would do. Would they give the ax to veteran Pablo Sandoval, who has looked much more like the 2016 version of himself than the 2019 version? Would Mauricio Dubon go the way of Jaylin Davis, being sent back to Sacramento to get more development time, after being supplanted by Donovan Solano on the depth chart?
Would they consider cutting a struggling veteran who was owed money, like Hunter Pence or Tony Watson?
In the end, the Giants went with the least controversial route, optioning two back-of-the-roster players who weren’t even on the Opening Day roster: outfielder Steven Duggar, and left-handed pitcher Andrew Suarez. Both players were added to the taxi squad (which is now five players), which means they’ll stay with the team in Colorado, then travel with their teammates to Los Angeles and Houston.
ROSTER MOVES:
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) August 6, 2020
LHP Andrew Suarez and OF Steven Duggar have been optioned to the Alternate Training Site. Both players have been added to the taxi squad.#SFGiants
Duggar was added to the roster when Davis was optioned a week ago. With the Giants facing a lot of right-handers this week, Duggar was given five starts, but struggled. He hit just 2-15, with 1 double, 0 walks, and 7 strikeouts. For whatever reason, the Giants played him at the corners rather than centerfield, which further diminished his impact.
Suárez was called up on Monday, to replace Andrew Triggs. He was seen warming up in at least one game, but didn’t make an appearance.
The Giants roster will now stay at 28 players through the rest of the regular season, and the postseason if they make it that far.