Willy Adames’ elbow situation is the latest headache for a Giants team already drowning in a rough second half, but there is at least some clarity on what he’s dealing with. According to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic, the San Francisco shortstop has a moderate UCL sprain in his non-throwing arm.
Adames plans to seek a second opinion before the Giants decide what comes next. With San Francisco sitting at 53-78, there’s a real question about whether there’s any reason to push him back into action for the rest of the 2026 MLB season. Even so, the club could still have something to gain from seeing him finish strong on an individual level.
That matters for a few different reasons. A productive stretch could help Adames carry confidence into 2027, and it could also boost his value if the Giants look at him as a possible offseason trade piece. But elbow injuries can make that kind of push tricky, especially for a veteran hitter trying to stay effective through pain.
The timing is notable because Adames had started to show signs of life at the plate. He is on track to reach 24 home runs or more for a fifth straight season, and he put up a .792 OPS across 16 games in August. For a player who had been searching for rhythm, that was a welcome development.
Still, the bigger picture is unavoidable. A healthy Adames is the best-case outcome for president of baseball operations Buster Posey as the Giants head toward the offseason. If surgery ends up being the path forward, Adames would close out the year with a .230 batting average, .289 on-base percentage, .424 slugging percentage, .713 OPS, 21 homers, 51 RBIs and 25 doubles in 121 games played.
Giants fans should not have to wait long for a clearer picture of what happens next.
In Other News...
Giants Rotation Suddenly Has Another Problem Fans Feared
The Giants were already bracing for a rotation hit after Carson Whisenhunt was announced to need Tommy John surgery for a torn UCL, and then Adrian Houser left a game against the Reds after just 1.1 innings because of an apparent injury. It was the kind of sequence that can turn a pitching staffs margin for error into a week-to-week concern, especially for a club that has been forced to keep reshuffling arms.
San Francisco had already moved quickly by calling up Spencer Bivens to fill Whisenhunts roster spot, but Housers status now creates another question the Giants may have to answer sooner rather than later. If the injury proves serious, Tristan Beck and Matt Wilkinson look like logical names to step into the opening, even if the club would clearly prefer not to be making another rotation decision this soon. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Have Two Triple A Bats Facing A Tough Path Up
Bo Davidson and Scott Bandura have given the Giants something to think about in Triple-A, especially with the way both left-handed-hitting outfield prospects have handled themselves at the plate and on the bases. For a club that is always balancing present needs with future upside, that kind of production is the sort of thing that can quietly force its way into the conversation, even if the big league roster is already crowded.
The problem is the path above them is not exactly clear. San Francisco already has plenty of left-handed bats in the outfield mix, which can make it hard for either player to find steady playing time if a call-up comes, and a promotion may end up depending more on roster movement or an injury than on performance alone. For now, the Giants can keep letting both develop in Triple-A while waiting for the opening that makes the most sense. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Just Gave Fans Another Reason To Question Their Priorities
The Giants have added another betting-adjacent partner to their growing business portfolio, entering into a partnership with Kalshi, a federally regulated financial exchange and prediction market in the United States. It is the latest sign that the club is continuing to lean into the gambling space, adding to existing ties with daily fantasy and betting platforms such as PrizePicks.
Steve Tseng, the teams vice president of partnerships, acknowledged concerns about gambling addiction while making the case that betting will happen either way and that the organization would rather shape the conversation around it. For a franchise trying to balance revenue opportunities with the optics of those choices, the deal is likely to invite the same questions all over again about where the line should be drawn. [Read more 🡒]