SF Giants place Smith on injured list with hamstring strain, reinstate Encarnacion from injured list

SAN FRANCISCO Dominic Smith sacrificed his body for the Giants on Friday night Now there s a possibility that his regular season is over Smith landed on the -day injured list with a right hamstring strain prior to Saturday s competition against the Los Angeles Dodgers leaving San Francisco without its best defensive first baseman for at least the next week-and-a-half With games remaining Smith may not have enough time to rehab the injury and return for the end of the regular season In a corresponding move infielder outfielder Jerar Encarnacion was reinstated from the -day injured list after he dealt with his own right hamstring strain He s not a speedster but hamstrings typically take a couple weeks reported manager Bob Melvin I know he ll be itching to return It just kind of depends on what we need him to do but our doctors will have more clarity in the present day Smith injured himself in the top of the fourth on Friday With runners on second and third third baseman Matt Chapman made a diving stop of Andy Pages grounder and fired to Smith who inadvertently did the splits Smith s extended lunge was needed as Chapman s throw barely beat Pages speed but Smith instantly collapsed onto his side As the Dodgers challenged the call Melvin and assistant athletic trainer Ryo Watanabe met Smith near first base to assess Smith s fitness Melvin had Wilmer Flores pinch-hit for Smith in the bottom of the fourth Smith has been a valuable contributor since joining the Giants during president of basball operations Buster Posey s roster shakeup in early June Over games Smith has a slash line of with five home runs and RBIs OPS On Aug Smith hit the th Splash Hit in Oracle Park history He s been great both offensively and defensively explained manager Bob Melvin Hitting in the middle of the order getting big hits for us I think this is apparently as confident as he s been in a long time with a band too He s well received here He s respected here You re going to have injuries over the unit of the season that are impactful This is definitely one for us In Smith s absence Rafael Devers and Flores will serve as the Giants first basemen Devers who is starting at first on Saturday has fared well there despite having no experience at the position prior to this season Over a very small sample of innings Devers has been worth one defensive run saved I think he s way more content now than maybe he was early on Melvin commented He look like he s fine out there The only thing I worry about a little bit was the ankle thing he had going on but I think he s past that now Talking to him the preceding day he was ready to play first base in the current era either way Encarnacion has been limited to only games this season due a left hand fracture in March a left oblique strain in June and a right hamstring strain in August the last of which was especially brutal On Aug Encarnacion was reinstated from the injured list and homered in his first contest back The next day Encarnacion hit a -foot homer in his second at-bat of the match then injured his hamstring in his third at-bat as Encarnacion tried running out an infield single He brings a lot of power and he s hit left-handed pitching too Melvin announced It was a short stint but he made a big impact in those games in Pittsburgh that he played We yearned to give him the proper amount of at-bats with Sacramento We wished to maybe play him through the weekend but obviously the need was to get him now Miller Whisenhunt throw bullpens Left-handed starter Carson Whisenhunt and left-handed reliever Erik Miller both threw bullpen sessions on Saturday afternoon though Whisenhunt is closer to returning than Miller Whisenhunt back strain threw his full repertoire of pitches on Saturday and explained he is going to Triple-A Sacramento on Tuesday to throw a couple innings Miller left elbow strain threw exclusively fastballs during his bullpen and is still a tactics out according to Melvin