Monday BP: Injury updates

Happy Monday, San Francisco Giants fans. Here’s hoping you’re all still riding the high of Logan Webb being amazing, Michael Conforto heating up, and, most importantly, Patrick Bailey saving us from having to watch the Giants hit absolute rock bottom.

Over the weekend, the Giants offered up a fair number of updates to some of their key, injured players. The update with the most short term impact is that outfielder Mike Yastrzemski ran the bases on Sunday, and is expected to return early this week. The Giants are facing right-handed pitchers in all three of their games against the Tampa Bay Rays, so they’ll surely jump on the opportunity to reinstate Yaz, who hasn’t played since injuring his hamstring on July 30.

How to make room for Yastrzemski on the roster is another matter entirely, and the hot hitting over the weekend from Heliot Ramos (who would have been the clear odd man out) might mean that Luis Matos gets optioned.

Speaking of the outfield, Mitch Haniger is, to use the parlance of the industry, “ramping up activities,” and is likely to start a rehab assignment in the near future after taking some swings this weekend. Haniger, who has been out since fracturing his forearm on June 13, would be a fantastic addition to a team in desperate search of players who can hit the ball hard. How to fit him on the roster is a whole different question, but given that it’s still a few weeks away, it’s one that we can file away in either the “these things tend to work themselves out” or the “problem for future us” bin. Your call.

And while we’re on the topic of hitting the ball hard ... it’s increasingly looking like there’s a chance we won’t see Marco Luciano again this year. Sunday’s update from the Giants was that Luciano, who injured his hamstring last week, will be re-evaluated in a few weeks.

We end with some good news on the pitching front. Keaton Winn threw a bullpen over the weekend, which means he should be ready to return soon. And John Brebbia, out since mid-June, threw a bullpen too! So reinforcements are on the way.

What time do the Giants play today?

The Giants and Rays kick off a three-game series tonight at 6:45 p.m. PT.