Tyler

Fitzgerald

With Matt Chapman (hand) returning from the injured list on Saturday there was no longer room for Fitzgerald on the team’s bench. The 27-year-old has struggled this season, slashing .217/.278/.327 with four homers, 14 RBI and nine stolen bases in 243 plate appearances with the Giants.

Fitzgerald went back-to-back with teammate Drew Gilbert off of Mason Englert to open the seventh inning, with his 398-foot (101.8 mph EV) blast extending the Giants’ lead to 6-0. The 27-year-old infielder has had a rough season overall with the Giants, slashing just .220/.278/.335 with four homers, 14 RBI and nine stolen bases in 233 plate appearances.

He’ll take the place of Carson Whisenhunt on the team’s active roster for at least a couple of days until Landen Roupp presumably returns to take that rotation spot. Fitzgerald, 27, has hit just .227/.287/.333 with three homers, 13 RBI and nine stolen bases in 222 plate appearances with the Giants this season.

Fitzgerald has been jettisoned to the minors with Casey Schmitt returning from the injured list ahead of Monday’s series opener against the Phillies. The 27-year-old middle infielder has been surpassed by Schmitt on the Giants’ depth chart and they’re clearly willing to keep Brett Wisely over him in a bench role.

Fitzgerald gets the call to rejoin San Francisco’s active roster prior to Monday’s series opener against the Diamondbacks with Casey Schmitt hitting the injured list with hand inflammation. The 27-year-old has been underwhelming this season from a pure fantasy perspective, but he’s capable of getting hot and making some noise, especially if he’s going to play regularly.

He’s day-to-day for now, but he’s slated to undergo more tests. If he winds up on the injured list, the Giants would likely bring back the recently demoted Tyler Fitzgerald from Triple-A.

Fitzgerald, who was batting .230/.289/.320 in 200 plate appearances, finally began losing some time at second base last week, though he started the last two games against the Red Sox and helped the Giants win yesterday with a successful squeeze bunt. It’s a little surprising to see him get sent down now, but it did figure that the Giants would turn to Casey Schmitt at second base following Matt Chapman’s return. Brett Wisely and Christian Koss could platoon until then.

Schmitt’s homer to left barely got out and would have gone off the wall in most ballparks, but it was absolutely scalded at 111.6 mph. That matches his high EV as a major leaguer. Schmitt also had 106.2- and 100.5-mph singles today. He’s up to .286/.369/.462 in 104 plate appearances, and as long as doesn’t fall of drastically beforehand, he should be in line to take over for Tyler Fitzgerald at second base once Matt Chapman returns to reclaim the hot corner.

Fitzgerald will take a seat for the finale against the Guardians, and Christian Koss will hit ninth while playing second base.

Fitzgerald scored on a wild pitch from Pierce Johnson in the 10th inning to give San Francisco a win in the first game of the series. He went 1-for-4 in the contest with a run scored, and he’s slashed a shaky — at best — .259/.316/.364 over 143 at-bats.