San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Duffy suffered an Achilles strain during his team’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays on June 19 and has been placed on the disabled list. It is uncertain when he will be able to return.
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Bochy Comments on Duffy’s Timeline for Return
Tuesday, June 21
Giants manager Bruce Bochy told reporters he believes Duffy “will be out closer to three weeks.”
Giants Will Miss Duffy’s Bat in the Lineup
Duffy played his way into the National League Rookie of the Year discussion in 2015 thanks to his timely hitting. His average hovered around .300 for most of the season before settling at .295 by the end of the year, and he brought solid power to the table as well with 12 home runs.
Thus far, Duffy has followed that up with a slash line of .253/.313/.358 and four homers for the first-place Giants in 2016.
When healthy, Duffy gives the Giants another dangerous presence in the middle of a batting order that also includes Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford. Duffy is also a solid defender at third base and was responsible for 12 total defensive runs saved above average during the 2015 campaign, per FanGraphs.
The Giants now must turn to a replacement while Duffy recovers, and backup Kelby Tomlinson is not available because he is on the disabled list with a thumb injury.
Conor Gillaspie is one option, although he was hitting only .159 in 33 games entering play on Monday. Elsewhere, Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News noted that prospect “Christian Arroyo is not far away.” MLB.com ranked Arroyo as the team’s best prospect coming into the 2016 season, and he is versatile enough to play third even though he is primarily a shortstop.
If the Giants call Arroyo up, he can at least fill the void until the starting third baseman is ready to return.
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