San Francisco Giants roster strikes 5/14/2023: Brandon Crawford activated from IL, David Villar optioned; Luke Jackson begins rehab

Also some info on Anthony DeSclafani’s toe.

• From
  
  Bryan Murphy
  

• on May 14, 2023 11:15 am

A few minutes ago, the San Francisco Giants announced that after yesterday’s game, David Villar was selected for the Triple-A Sacramento to activate Brandon Crawford for tonight’s finals in Arizona.

Not at all surprising — Susan Slusser interviewed him in an article published May 10, in which even he knew the signs were up — but another step that shows the Giants are walking a tightrope in rebuilding and developing . Gabe Kapler says in the Slusser article I wanted to write here:

“The only thing I still want to be very clear about is that David has only had 100 record appearances,” said Kapler. “It’s a really quick look and given his track record you know he’s a good hitter. I didn’t even pay a moment’s attention to the traditional line stats. Underneath, there were enough hard shots and consistent enough balls in the air that you feel like he’s going to get some good results in the end.

Villar’s 50% ball rate is exactly 100 PA and his 14.3% FB/HR rate is almost exactly the same as the team’s overall rate of 17.4% (second best in MLB). However, the 30% strikeout rate is a real disappointment – he just doesn’t put a lot of balls in play. Statcast likes his defense and we saw him do well on second base after JD Davis’ glove on third base was so surprising that it overpowered him.

At the end of last year I raised my flag at Villar:

Villar’s success doesn’t seem to me to be a coincidence. Those 47 home runs come with a .275/.388/.555 line in 812 plate appearances. He carried this over to a .231/.332/.455 line in 181 major league plate appearances.

[…]

FanGraphs’ Steamer predictions rate Davis and Villar similarly and not in a way that suggests they will be key players — .325 woBA for both, with Villar ahead in fWAR and homers: 1.5 to 1.1 13 to 11 respectively. I’m not smart enough to refute predictions, I can only assume what I’ve seen after four years of the Zaidi era, and that’s how they were able to figure out a usage model that maximizes players’ skills. Most of these skills are reflected in publicly available statistics, but not all.

The Giants both have no glaring need that would compel them to be patient for Villar to “complete his development at the major league level” (an expression we’ve heard before when talking about certain prospects in certain situations goes). Let’s hope he can triple-A and retain those lessons when he comes back.

I have a feeling they will need David Villar’s racquet at some point this season.

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Meanwhile, the return of Brandon Crawford means Casey Schmitt will be pushed throughout infield if he doesn’t spell the 36-year-old. This will be another important moment for Crawford as – like Villar – there are some signs hanging on the wall. We all know this is Crawford’s final season in the Giants jersey. It could be his last season in Major League Baseball. The 36-year-old midfielder’s story doesn’t point to a triumphant ending. However, it’s still worth introducing him as a starter to see where he lands on the spectrum of prepared and playable characters, and it will be a good test of Schmitt’s versatility.

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Luke Jackson will be an important name to remember as we near the end of the month. As Alex Pavlovic notes, he is eligible to complete the 60-day IL (in which he rehabilitated after Tommy John’s surgery) on May 29.

Back in January I wrote about the Jackson acquisition – which is still sort of one of Zaidi’s biggest moves as a POBO – and called it John Brebbia 2.0. In 2021, he pitched in 11 of Atlanta’s 16 postseason games, but also saw his slider spin rate drop after the league began cracking down on sticky players. And then he had TJ surgery last year.

The Giants will need a fresher version of John Brebbia to get through the rest of the season. The one they have now is showing signs of wear and tear from last season’s overuse, and if the Rays’ model of treating pitchers like chewing gum has now become the industry norm, the Giants are going to need a new stick of spearmint here soon. The bullpen is still wobbly.

Of course, the rotation is looking a little shaky at the moment due to Anthony DeSclafani’s toe issue. We found out yesterday that a piano bench fell on his toe the other day and it’s still causing him problems. Everyone I know who has had a fracture or other toe injury has never fully recovered from it. He needs to get a special shoe or something. We hope he doesn’t miss any time. The Giants really need his arm…and they have to hope he doesn’t overcompensate to the point of increasing the risk of an arm injury.

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