The Giants are turning to a fresh arm and getting a key bat back on Wednesday afternoon, hoping both moves can help jolt a season that has gone sideways.
Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson is set to make his Major League debut against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field, and the matchup comes with a twist: Cleveland is the club that sent him to San Francisco earlier this season in the Patrick Bailey trade. Now the Giants get their first live look at what they picked up.
San Francisco enters the second game of the three-game set at 51-74 after taking an 8-1 loss in the opener. Carson Whisenhunt was hit early, Cleveland kept pouring it on, and Jo Adell drove in six runs as the Giants dropped the third of four games lately.
Wilkinson arrives with some momentum from the minors, even if the Triple-A numbers were uneven. He put together a combined 1.87 ERA across 43.1 innings at Double-A this season, then ran into more trouble after moving up, posting a 5.15 ERA in 10 starts at Triple-A. Still, his latest outing offered a reason for optimism: seven scoreless innings and nine strikeouts in a start with Tacoma before the call to the majors.
Manager Tony Vitello now gets a chance to see where Wilkinson stands in his development and whether he belongs in the rotation going forward.
The rookie won’t get much time to settle in. Cleveland has left-handed Parker Messick on the mound, and Ramírez is batting second for the Guardians, giving Wilkinson an immediate challenge right out of the gate. How he handles that first trip through the top of the order could say plenty about what comes next.
The Giants’ lineup also gets a boost with Willy Adames back after missing four straight games because of a Grade 1 lower back strain. He’ll hit third. Jung Hoo Lee is back in the lineup as well after sitting out Tuesday’s loss.
San Francisco is sticking with Jonah Cox in the leadoff spot in center, with Rafael Devers at designated hitter. Eldridge, who supplied the Giants’ only offense Tuesday with a solo homer, will face a tough assignment against Messick, who comes in at 9-7 with a 2.59 ERA and 142 strikeouts.
First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. ET.
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A big part of that momentum came through the deadline move that sent Robbie Ray to the Padres and returned prospects Miguel Mendez and Joniel Hernandez to San Francisco. The Giants also kept adding pitching throughout the draft and deadline window, and Ramon Marquez breaking into MLB Pipelines top-100 list only adds to the sense that the organizations next wave is starting to come into focus, even if the full payoff is still ahead. [Read more 🡒]
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Willy Adames Is Becoming A Bigger Giants Problem Than Fans Expected
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This season has been tougher to square with that investment. Adames has been below league average offensively, batting .224 with a 96 OPS+, and the production simply has not matched the expectations that come with his salary. Bleacher Reports Joel Reuter recently pointed to that gap between cost and impact, and for the Giants the concern is no longer just whether Adames can heat up, but whether this is becoming a more lasting issue than anyone anticipated. [Read more 🡒]