SAN FRANCISCO — When the Giants took the field to start the top of the third inning Thursday night against the Brewers, it was Brett Wisely and Marco Luciano who assumed the two middle infield positions. Tyler Fitzgerald, who started the game at shortstop, had been removed from the game.
Fitzgerald left the game with lower back tightness, the Giants announced, after the rookie shortstop turned an unassisted double play to end the second.
With a runner on first, Fitzgerald fielded a sharp ground ball from Sal Frelick, stepped on second, then fired to first to complete the double play. He returned to the dugout without any noticeable injury, but when the next inning began, he had been subbed out for Luciano.
Interestingly, Luciano took over at second base while Wisely slid over to Fitzgerald’s spot at shortstop.
Fitzgerald, 26, has already made a strong enough impression to enter next spring central in the Giants’ plans. Seizing the starting shortstop job at midseason, Fitzgerald is batting .296 with 14 home runs and a team-high 17 stolen bases in his first full-time opportunity in the majors.
It has been tougher sledding for Luciano, who seemed earmarked for the job at the end of last season but was beaten out by Nick Ahmed in the spring and has spent the season splitting time between San Francisco and Triple-A Sacramento, spending less and less time at shortstop.
Neither player has provided exemplary defense and have combined to commit 19 errors, leading some to speculate about pursuing external options such as San Diego’s Ha-Seong Kim, who played for manager Bob Melvin with the Padres and is close friends with Jung Hoo Lee.
There’s also Willy Adames, who enters Thursday with 30 home runs and is currently in town with the Brewers. Adames, 29, is arguably the highest-profile member of the upcoming class of free-agent shortstops. He’s well on pace to eclipse his previous career-high of 31 homers and has already set career-bests in RBIs (102), steals (18) and runs scored (84). Adames is earning $12.25 million in his final year of arbitration and should be due for a handsome raise.
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