Giants Baseball Insider

SF Giants OF Austin Slater leaves game with left hamstring tightness

SF Giants outfielder Austin Slater was forced to leave Wednesday's game against the Washington Nationals with an injury.

Marc Delucchi

SF Giants OF Austin Slater leaves game with left hamstring tightness
SF Giants OF Austin Slater leaves game with left hamstring tightness /
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The SF Giants removed outfielder Austin Slater from the game on Wednesday afternoon against the Washington Nationals with left hamstring tightness. Slater slowed up running to first base on a ground ball. Running at full speed, Slater likely would have beat out the throw from Nationals shortstop Ildemaro Vargas for an infield single. Instead, he was thrown out. He reached for his hamstring after the play and slowly walked to the dugout. Slater missed most of April with a right hamstring injury.

Slater has arguably become an overlooked member of the Giants core over the past few seasons. While injuries and large platoon splits have limited his overall contribution, Slater excels in a few key areas. The Stanford product is an above-average defensive player and entered the season with a .285/.377/.469 line with 32 doubles, five triples, 20 home runs, 71 walks, and 139 strikeouts in 640 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers.

The Giants have been particularly cautious with Slater all season long. He also dealt with an elbow injury during spring training, and he aggravated it during his rehab from the hamstring injury. Even since he was activated in late April, the Giants have limited his defensive workload. Despite the limited playing time, Slater has been quite productive. Entering play on Wednesday, he had a .412/.474/.471 triple-slash in 19 plate appearances with a double, two stolen bases, two walks, and three strikeouts.

The Giants struggled mightily against left-handed pitching early in the season when Slater was on the injured list. Granted, offseason acquisition Mitch Haniger was also out for much of that time. Nevertheless, the SF Giants surely hope Austin Slater can avoid another prolonged absence after he was pulled from Wednesday's game.

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Marc Delucchi
MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).

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