Tough break for the optionable rookie.
This is what’s rough about being a rookie — you’re mostly expendable. The San Francisco Giants have optioned righty Tristan Beck back to Triple-A Sacramento ahead of this afternoon’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Beck’s last three appearances were just what the Giants needed — length from their bullpen. His line: 9 IP 2 H 1 ER, 10 K ZERO walks. He’s been right in line with what the Giants have tuned their pitchers to be: 95 with the fastball and a 2,500 rpm slider spin.
I had a thought that he could be in line for a start here pretty soon, but the Giants might like what they’ve seen from Sean Manaea and Jakob Junis lately to think that another long arm in the bullpen was extraneous. He could also be going down to get warmed up to eventually come up and make a start.
Austin Slater’s return will be a welcome one. He’s one of the team’s top threats against left-handed pitching, and with Rich Hill on the mound today, it’s a good call. He’s been limited to just 8 games this season due to injury, but he’s hit .368/.455/.421 in 22 PA, 13 of which have been against left-handed pitching. That lefties-only line is .583/.615/.667.
Beck’s stock has sort of been up and down even through the first month of this season, but he has had a solid+ May to the point that I’m looking forward to seeing his return. It’s just one of those things where he just pitched yesterday and the Giants needed the roster spot. If there’s an injury, he can be recalled even sooner than the standard 10-day waiting period, and since this is the San Francisco Giants we’re talking about here, an injury could happen very, very soon.