Wilmer Flores has been placed on the Injured List.
I thought we’d seen the last of Mauricio Dubón on the San Francisco Giants this year, but I’m very happy to be wrong about that one. On Thursday, the Giants recalled Dubón from AAA, while placing Wilmer Flores on the 10-day Injured List.
ROSTER MOVES: IF Wilmer Flores placed on the 10-day Injured List with a left hamstring strain.
IF/OF Mauricio Dubón recalled from Triple-A Sacramento.
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) September 2, 2021
Dubón will get an immediate chance to reward the decision, as he slots into the lineup for Thursday’s afternoon finale against the Milwaukee Brewers, playing in center field and hitting eighth.
The right-handed hitting utility player made the Opening Day roster, and stayed on the team until late June. But he was struggling hitting (.234/.272/.373, 72 OPS+ and 72 wRC+), so the Giants optioned him, saying they wanted the platoon player to get more consistent at-bats it Sacramento.
That seems to be paying off. Dubón is hitting .333/.415/.463 in AAA this year, and while the power has been mostly absent, he is sporting an 11.2% walk rate to just a 15.1% strikeout rate.
But with Thairo Estrada playing so well, Jason Vosler providing a strong left-handed option, Tommy La Stella and Evan Longoria returning from injury, and the acquisition of Kris Bryant, there simply wasn’t a reason to recall Dubón. Until now.
Flores mysteriously left Wednesday’s game between innings, prompting speculation that he was battling some sort of injury. That ended up being the case, as we found out after the game he was dealing with a hamstring issue, and that’s what landed him on the IL.
Hopefully Flores is able to return soon, and it doesn’t become a lingering issue. And in all likelihood, Dubón will be back as soon as Donovan Solano is ready to return from the COVID-19 list or Longoria is ready to return from another IL stint.
But until then, hopefully Dubi can state his case.
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