Giants option Gregory Santos

A day after trading for outfielder Mike Tauchman, the San Francisco Giants have made a roster move to accommodate their newest player: right-handed reliever Gregory Santos has been optioned.

The Giants traded left-handed reliever Wandy Peralta and a player to be named later to the New York Yankees for Tauchman, so in theory the trade didn’t need a corresponding move, as Peralta’s departure opened up a spot on both the active and 40-man rosters for Tauchman.

But with Tauchman unable to join the team Tuesday, the already short-handed Giants decided to activate outfielder Skye Bolt. It seemed reasonable to think that Bolt would just be on the roster for a day, and return to the Alternate Training Site when Tauchman arrived, but the Giants went in a different direction instead — understandable, given how banged up their position players currently are. Santos getting lit up in the 10th inning of Tuesday’s game probably didn’t help either.

It’s certainly not the last we’ve seen of Santos. His numbers in his first three career games were not good (22.50 ERA, 22.58 FIP, 3 K, 2 BB, and 3 HR in 2 IP), but he showed off some majestic pitches that reminded you why the Giants protected him in the Rule 5 Draft.

The righty is still just 21 years old, still hasn’t thrown a single pitch in AA or AAA, and is the team’s No. 5 ranked prospect according to Fangraphs. Needless to say, the Giants are still high on him, as they should be.

With the team swapping two relievers for two outfielders, they’re now down to a six-person bullpen, with 15 position players. However, that group of position players includes Mike Yastrzemski, who is sidelined, and Evan Longoria, who is battling a sore hamstring and unable to run at full speed.