Shay

Whitcomb

Whitcomb has shown flashes of potential but has yet to establish himself as an everyday option at the big-league level. The versatile 28-year-old finally received an extended look with San Francisco this past season after being buried by the Astros for a couple years. He hit just .226 (21-for-93) with two homers and two steals during a 32-game showcase. He’s too old to be considered a prospect anymore and he’s probably running out of chances to carve out a role in the majors. Philadelphia is an interesting landing spot considering they don’t have a ton of bench depth entering the offseason.

Basabe is sitting out his straight game with left hamstring tightness. It’ll be Shay Whitcomb taking over at the hot corner in his place.

Whitcomb drove in both Giants runs today and still got criticized; his big hit was a popup 208 feet down the right field line that should have been a double, but since he didn’t run initially, he ended up at first. Whitcomb is hitting .207/.233/.310 in 92 plate appearances for the Giants. He’ll almost certainly be dropped from the 40-man roster early in the offseason.

Whitcomb receives his first opportunity with San Francisco after being claimed off waivers from the Astros earlier this month. The 27-year-old has flashed an interesting power/speed skillset in the upper minors for the last couple years, but was never able to parlay that into a permanent role in Houston.

We’re unsure if he’ll be reporting directly to Triple-A Sacramento or if he’ll join the Giants bench, but it wouldn’t be surprising if he got a shot to show something in the bigs towards the end of a lost season.

Whitcomb went just 3-for-23 in 24 plate appearances for the Astros this season with two home runs and an 11/5 K/BB ratio. He was hitting .274/.338/.420 with nine home runs, 52 RBI, and 23 steals in 73 games at Triple-A, so somebody may take a gamble on the 27-year-old.

Whitcomb homered in a spot start for Jeremy Peña on Wednesday, but heads back to Triple-A. It appears the Astros are set to activate someone else tomorrow.

It’s a scheduled day off for Peña. It’ll be Shay Whitcomb taking over at shortstop to face Angels lefty Reid Detmers on Wednesday night.

Whitcomb gets the call to replace an injured Nick Allen (hamstring) on Houston’s bench. The versatile 27-year-old has gone 2-for-17 with one round-tripper and four RBI in 14 games at the big-league level this season. He’s always been an intriguing talent, and has posted some huge power/speed combo numbers at the Triple-A level, but it’s never really come together at the highest level.

Whitcomb returns to the minors to make room for center fielder Jake Meyers to come off the injured list. The 27-year-old has gone 2-for-17 with one homer and four RBI in 14 games for the Astros this season.