For glove of the game!

What a way to start a week! Thanks, Casey Schmitt, that’s just what I needed this morning!

Welcome to a Juneteenth Day edition of There R Giants! I don’t have any history to offer (though maybe a little tangent into the life of Moses Fleetwood Walker would be fun sometime!). Instead, we’ve got playoff chases aplenty — big bombs, great plays, and dramatic performances all over the system!

yermin mercedes @ymercedes73

New Home 🙏🏽 @SFGiants

We also have — of course — more transactions! The Giants claimed 1b/DH Yermin Mercedes off of waivers from the White Sox. You may recall that Mercedes had an eventful spring of 2021. A minor league Rule 5 selection out of the Baltimore system (by way of the Mexican League), Mercedes had a torrid start start to 2021. He went 5 for 5 in his big league debut, and had hits in 8 of his first 9 MLB plate appearances, on his way to being named April’s AL Rookie of the Month. He later ran afoul of Tony LaRussa’s overly honed sense of propriety, when he smacked a 3-0 pitch off of a position player out for a home run. Things went downhill for Mercedes with the White Sox after that, and he spent most of the second half of the year in Triple A. He had hamate surgery in the spring, leading to a somewhat down year, though his walk rates this season in Charlotte were surprisingly high (relative to his career). He’s often had pretty stark platoon splits in his career, hitting LHP pretty well.

To make room for Mercedes, the Giants’ designated Michael Papierski for assignment — keeping their upper minors catching inventory a little tenuous! By my count, Papierski is the sixth player to appear on the Giants active roster this year who has subsequently been DFA’d.

The Giants also signed LHP Matt Hall to a minor league deal. Hall has seen some big league time for Detroit and Boston over parts of three seasons (2018-20), but has been in Indy Ball since the beginning of 2021 (playing on a Kansas City team that also includes former big leaguers Matt Adams and Pete Kozma — the dream never dies!).

HITTER of the Weekend: Grant McCray (SJ), 5 for 8, 2 BB, 4 R, 1 RBI, 2 SB
PITCHER of the Weekend: Nick Swiney (Eug), 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

As for the history, well… I’ll bet Google can help!

Now let’s get to a weekend’s worth of Minor Lines!

There R Giants

Titles Clinched and Chased as 1st Half Enters…

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