President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi gave an update on top prospect Kyle Harrison’s rehab assignment in Arizona, and how he expects him to be back with Triple-A Sacramento soon.
The Giants stood pat on the final day before the Aug. 1 MLB trade deadline and remain confident in their current roster's capabilities.
San Francisco's trade with the Seattle Mariners on Monday for veteran outfielder A.J. Pollock and utilityman Mark Mathias was the only move the Giants made before Tuesday's 3 p.m. PT deadline.
While some fans might be frustrated with the team's inactivity, Giants manager Gabe Kapler is encouraged by recent performances from veteran starting pitchers and is hopeful the return of key bats will provide a boost to a struggling lineup.
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"With the way [Sean] Manaea is beginning to pitch for us, [Ross] Stripling's recent outings, Alex Wood was solid last night and has had some good outings as of late," Kapler told reporters prior to Tuesday's game. "I feel good about where we are and from a position player's standpoint, Thairo [Estrada] is out on an assignment, so he is ready to come back in pretty short order. Not sure if that's going to be Saturday or earlier. Maybe as early as Thursday, you never know. We're just going to have to see how the first couple days of his rehab assignment goes, but it's not going to be long. He's a pretty good deadline addition for us."
"Yeah, reinforcements. That's all on our radar, those two guys specifically ... that's a huge deal, just plugging (Estrada) right back in the lineup where he's been great," Stripling told NBC Sports Bay Area. "So there's always some people where it's like a trade-deadline-from-within thing, but we're certainly well aware of those guy's trajectories and when we're going to get them back and what they can do for us offensively. So it's definitely on everyone's radar and we're looking forward to getting them back soon."
The Giants' roster, when healthy -- or close to it -- is one of the deepest in the league and is capable of keeping pace with just about any competitor in the National League. With Estrada and outfielder Mitch Haniger's returns right around the corner, a quiet deadline sends a loud message to a team that continues its search for an identity.
"I'd say around baseball right now, it's pretty quiet generally speaking," Kapler added. "I think the biggest signal it sends to the clubhouse is we believe in them. We believe this is a good group that's capable of going to the postseason, making a deep postseason run. We're in a really good position to strike in the National League West. We have our work cut out for us, it's right in front of us, we're playing the Diamondbacks right now and we're going to have lots of opportunity in this month and the two months ahead to make some noise, so the message is pretty strong and clear, we believe in this group."
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Both Kapler and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi haven't been shy about their belief in the current roster's potential. A group that, by most accounts, has outperformed expectations this season.
Now it's up to those 26 players to prove the organization's vote of confidence was well-worth the gamble.
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