Friday BP: Austin Slater returns to the Injured List

Happy Friday, San Francisco Giants fans. And it’s a happy Friday indeed, assuming you’re all still riding the high of Casey Schmitt’s magical Thursday, which left him 8-12 with two home runs and two doubles to start his young, promising career.

But it’s not all peaches and peanut butter cups in the Giants clubhouse. On Thursday afternoon, before the game, the Giants announced that center fielder Austin Slater was being placed on the 10-day Injured List after hurting his hamstring during the team’s loss on Wednesday.

This wasn’t surprising, as Slater came up lame trying to run to first and left the game. But it’s still a bummer. It’s the same hamstring that kept him sidelined for almost all of Spring Training, and saw him placed on the Injured List until late April.

In all, Slater has only appeared in eight games this year, though he’s been quite good in those eight. He’s hit 7-19 with a double, and has as many walks as strikeouts, with three each, while stealing two bases.

With Slater on the IL, the Giants are now missing both halves of their center field platoon, as Mike Yastrzemski remains sidelined ... also with a hamstring injury.

Bryce Johnson who only recently returned from the IL, took Slater’s place on the roster.

In other news, the Giants are turning to an opener today, and no surprises as to who it is: John Brebbia.

What time do the Giants play today?

The Giants play the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight at 6:40 p.m. in the second game of their four-game series.