Drew

Gilbert

In addition to the homer, Gilbert also doubled and singled twice. The 25-year-old former top prospect has had some spurts of success in his first full season of MLB action, but overall production of .243/.327/.387 over 173 at-bats leaves a bit to desired. He’s still a name that’s worth keeping an eye on in keeper/dynasty formats.

Chapman has been able to tolerate the strain, but he aggravated the injury in the sixth inning against the D-backs and was forced to depart. If he needs to go on the IL, the Giants will likely stick Casey Schmitt at third base and give more outfield time to Victor Bericoto and Drew Gilbert.

Arraez was hurt when he fouled a ball off his foot on Tuesday. His return means Casey Schmitt is shifting back to the outfield. That’d seem like bad news for Victor Bericoto, but since he homered the last two days, the Giants are sacrificing some defense by sitting Drew Gilbert and playing Jung Joo Lee in center tonight.

The Giants didn’t enjoy another offensive outburst today, but that might not have mattered to Gilbert much anyway. He started when the team scored 19 runs against the Rockies on Sunday, 12 runs against the Brewers on Thursday and 18 runs against the Cubs on Friday, but he went a combined 4-for-13 with one extra-base hit and one RBI in those games. He’s hitting .200/.238/.300 in 20 at-bats over the last seven days. The other eight Giants with at least 15 at-bats during that span have OPSs ranging from .821 (Casey Schmidt) to 1.298 (Willy Adames).

Gilbert’s homer off Blas Castaño gave the Giants their first runs of the game in the eighth inning of an 8-3 loss. So, it didn’t matter overly much for the team. It was big for Gilbert, though, considering he was hitting .186/.238/.271 in his previous 22 games. He should be in line to start against all righties while Harrison Bader is sidelined.

It turns out Bader isn’t sitting tonight in favor of Drew Gilbert, even if that might have been deserved. He’ll serve his second IL stint of the season after hitting .170/.198/.358 in 30 games to start his Giants career. It’ll likely be Gilbert in center against righties and Victor Bericoto in right against lefties, with Jung Hoo Lee sliding over, while Bader is out.

How many grand slams does a guy have to hit in order to start regularly? Alas, Bader is batting just .170/.198/.358 overall. Now that Jung Hoo Lee is back, Bader could lose significant time against righties to Drew Gilbert. Of course, Gilbert is only hitting .194/.254/.274 this month, but he does have the platoon advantage (and the his-college-manager-loves-him advantage). Bader has a .482 OPS against righties and an .837 OPS versus lefties.

Ramos left Friday’s game with tightness in his quad, and he’ll miss at least one more game. The 26-year-old will recover on the bench with Drew Gilbert starting in left field in his absence.

The 25-year-old outfielder smacked a one-out double off of Trevor Richards in the sixth inning and scored on a two-run knock off the bat of Luis Arraez. He also chipped in a pair of singles. With the three-hit attack, Gilbert is now slashing .279/.311/.442 with a pair of homers and five RBI in his first 46 plate appearances with the Giants this season.

He had started the five previous games, but he’ll grab a little rest ahead of game two of the doubleheader with Jerar Encarnacion taking his first start in six days. Gilbert’s off to a .243/.282/.405 start with two homers in his first 40 plate appearances. It’s about what you’d expect, as Gilbert showcased some power in his 39-game sample last year but also struggled with contact.