DENVER — Austin Slater, once a fresh-faced rookie, showed up at Coors Field on Tuesday with a beard. He’s hoping that’s the only change that occurred between stints in the big leagues.
After missing 52 games with a torn adductor muscle, Slater will be back in the starting lineup for Wednesday’s series finale with the Rockies. He hit .290 during his first run with the Giants, with three homers and a .773 OPS in 100 at-bats. Slater wants to pick up right where he left off, and he knows that doing so would bolster his status heading into 2018.
“You’re consistently auditioning,” Slater said. “A lot can happen in the offseason, but I want to hopefully set myself up to be in the conversation for a starting job next year.”
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Slater likely will be. The Giants plan to move Denard Span to left and find a defensive upgrade in center, and Hunter Pence will be entering the final year of a massive contract. Assuming the team has a new center fielder, Slater, Jarrett Parker and others will get a shot to compete with the veterans in the corners.
For now, Bruce Bochy will say only that he wants everything to be competitive next spring. The auditions actually start now, and Bochy said he would try to start Slater every other day the rest of the season. Bochy met with trainer Dave Groeschner and they decided not to push Slater too hard since he came back well ahead of schedule and only played three rehab games, none of which included a full nine innings.
When Slater pulled up running to first, the Giants originally thought he would miss the rest of the season. Slater was told he would be out at least eight weeks and could miss up to 12 weeks, but he made it back right on the short end of the timetable. He was hurt July 7, but he’s back so soon that the Giants have him lined up for a half-season in the Dominican Winter League, too.
“I’m pumped,” Slater said. “Tony Reali, our physical therapist, said he would set the goal to get back this year. We did everything we could to push it to the limit and obviously it paid off. I couldn’t hope for more.”
