Giants call up Thairo Estrada, John Brebbia, and Caleb Baragar

Johnny Cueto was placed on the 10-day Injured List.

September call ups are here, and yeah … they’re kind of boring this year. MLB recently shifted to allowing for just 28 players on September rosters, rather than allowing anyone on the 40-man roster to join the team (this is not a coronavirus protocol rule, so get used to it).

That, combined with the Minor League season being pushed back a month this year, combined with the San Francisco Giants competing not just for the postseason but for baseball’s top record, means the Giants aren’t exactly making any notable moves.

In a normal year we might be seeing the MLB debuts of Heliot Ramos and Sean Hjelle right now, or, at the very least, the return of Joey Bart. Instead, we’re getting the return of three players who have all spent significant time on the roster this season: infielder Thairo Estrada, right-handed pitcher John Brebbia, and left-handed pitcher Caleb Baragar.

Estrada and Baragar are technically the September call ups, while Brebbia joins the roster at the expense of right-handed pitcher Johnny Cueto, who was placed on the 10-day Injured List after making a rough start on Tuesday.

Estrada, who jumps straight into the starting lineup, has had a solid year in his first season with the Giants. He’s hitting .291/.358/.419, good for a 109 OPS+ and 114 wRC+ in 95 plate appearances. He’s been blistering hot while with AAA Sacramento, hitting .362/.424/.595.

Brebbia, who has been doing the Sacramento shuffle this year, has a not-nice ERA of 6.19, but has pitched rather well. His FIP is 4.10, and he has 18 strikeouts to just 2 walks in 16 innings. With Sacramento he has a 2.84 ERA and 3.73 FIP, with 22 strikeouts to 4 walks in 12.2 innings.

And then there’s Baragar, who has one of the funnier lines of the season. He has a 0.49 ERA in the Majors this season, but a 9.37 ERA in AAA. Funnier yet, the FIP aligns pretty well, as it’s 3.76 in San Francisco and 9.48 in Sacramento.

Go figure.