With still no return date for Marco Scutaro in sight and Giants second basemen hitting a repulsive .170/.262/.296 for the season, the decision was made to call up 2011 first-round pick Joe Panik prior to Saturday’s game against the Diamondbacks.
The 23-year-old Panik was having a fine season in Triple-A, hitting .321/.382/.447 with five homers and three steals in 293 at-bats. That’s a big improvement over last year’s .257/.333/.347 line from Double-A Richmond. Drafted as a shortstop, he became a second baseman last year, seeing only spot duty at his old position. This year, he had played 61 games at second and 10 at short in Triple-A.
Brandon Hicks has been the Giants’ primary second baseman with Scutaro sidelined due to back problems, starting 56 of the team’s 74 games at the position. However, he’s hitting just .172/.289/.339 overall. The Giants’ .558 OPS from second base is the fifth worst mark any team is getting from a position this year. The only positions worse are Padres second basemen (.451), Cardinals second basemen (.534), Rays catchers (.536) and Mets catchers (.555).