SF Giants option Brett Wisely, activate Brandon Crawford from IL

The SF Giants optioned Brett Wisely to Sacramento to make space for Brandon Crawford's return prior to Saturday's game against the Red Sox.

The SF Giants announced Saturday that utility piece Brett Wisely has been optioned to Triple-A Sacramento to make space for shortstop Brandon Crawford to rejoin the squad. Wisely can be optioned one more time this season before he must be placed on waivers.

Veteran shortstop Crawford was eligible to be activated off the injured list on Friday ahead of the Giants' first game against the Red Sox, but the team decided to give him one more day to rest. He is not in the starting lineup for the second game in the Sox series against left-handed pitcher James Paxton, but is available off the bench. 

Crawford has been sidelined with left knee inflammation since July 17. With no real success in finding a solid shortstop replacement for him, the Giants eventually called up top prospect Marco Luciano. Crawford was hitting .207/.285/.333 with five homers and 26 RBI at the time of injury.

The Giants acquired Wisely in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays this offseason for outfielder prospect Tristan Peters. Wisely has hit .175/.231/.267 with five doubles, two home runs, nine walks, and 40 strikeouts in 131 plate appearances in the majors this season. However, at Triple-A, Wisely has recorded a .301/.436/.522 triple-slash in 144 plate appearances with 13 doubles and four home runs with 25 walks and 37 strikeouts.

"Wise is pretty good on fastballs... more middle of the plate, a little bit closer to him, and one of the things he's struggled with here at the Major League level... is the fastball up and away and sometimes breaking balls down below the zone," manager Gabe Kapler told reporters on Saturday. "So swing decisions are going to be a big point of emphasis for Wise going forward and I've said all along, I'll continue to say, he's plenty talented to make an impact at the Major League level long-term."

Wisely, who's been a career infielder, was asked to take reps in the outfield this season in order to give the Giants a left-handed bat with defensive versatility. In his last stint in the majors, he made several very strong plays at second. From the month of June onwards, he committed zero errors. In Giants Baseball Insider's updated prospect rankings, Wisely was a consensus top-22 prospect in the organization.