Some notes on Evan Longoria's finger
One note: it would be better for all of its ligaments to already be healthy
Evan Longoria will have surgery today to repair a ligament in his right index finger, and hey, that sure isn’t good for the Giants. Longoria is the team’s starting third baseman, and as it turns out, when you lose your starting third baseman, you have fewer good players in your baseball game, which isn’t a good thing.
Folks, you just can’t find analysis like this anywhere else. Mostly because anywhere else has editors.
But what is the meaning of the bum finger? What will happen at third base with Longoria out through Opening Day and probably longer? Will he be okay? Will any of us ever be okay again????
I have thoughts. Here are…some of them.
That finger’s been bad for a while
Longoria hurt his shoulder when he collided with Brandon Crawford during what should have been a routine play on June 5 last year. He was having a great seaosn at the time, hitting .280/.376/.516 with 9 homers in 186 plate appearances. He came back a couple months later, hit an extremely sustainable .417/.462/.667 over his next five games, but alas and alack, he hurt hs finger and was out for another month.
When he came back, he wasn’t the same. Down the stretch, Longoria hit just .200/.283/.388 over the final month of the season, and watching him, it was clear that he wasn’t right. Despite that dramatic home run into the howling wind in Game 3 of the Division Series, something was off. It didn’t fix itself with time, and now surgeons are going to have to fix it instead.
Overall, it will be a good thing to get it done.
In the short term, boy is this going to hurt. Like watching Longoria hit in August!
The Giants are replete with options
You want a team that can cover some innings at third base? The Giants can cover some innings at third base! You got yer Thairo Estrada, yer Jason Vosler, yer Mauricio Dubon. What’s that I’m hearing? You want more? Howsabout Wilmer Flores? That more enough for you? What if I throw in a dash of Luke Williams? A soupcon of Alex Blandino? There’s plenty out there, for the savvy consumer.
Except those options might not be any good
The Giants are already likely to be playing Flores and Estrada in most games, so now you’re down to what? Dubon? Vosler? Both those guys are talented enough that they could do a nice job in the majors — please read the “could” in that sentence as extremely skeptical — but they haven’t shown consistency in the majors yet. Luke Williams is a nice complementary piece without any power who can play anywhere on the infield, and Blandino is a nice complementary piece without any power who can play anywhere on the infield. It is not an inspiring group, shall we say.
Except those options might be good?
You know who else was part of an uninspiring group before the season started? Mike Yastrzemski in 2019. LaMonte Wade Jr in 2021. Gregor Blanco in 2011. If anyone can turn this chunk of coal into a chunk of somewhat higher grade coal (do I hear anthracite, anyone????), it’s the Giants. If anyone has identified players who might be able to contribute and just needd a chance, it’s the Giants. And if anyone on the infield is going to step up this year and give Gabe Kapler a tough decision about who he sends down whenever Longoria is back, well, the sooner the better.
This is how the Giants have been operating for the last few years. Give guys chances, real chances, and you might be surprised what they can do. You might also not be surprised, but that’s why they didn’t pick up just one infield depth piece. Part of the team’s roster building strategy involves giving guys real chances until one of them steps up. Well, here’s a chance for one of them to step up. Sure, Thairo Estrada did it last year too, but that was over just 132 plate appearances. If he wants to prove himself, lock down a spot on that roster for years, this is his opportunity.
That goes for everyone else. This is your time, if you can take it. Recent history suggests that someone can, even if that someone takes some time to get started.
This still sucks, though
As possible as it is that one of the backups the Giants have in camp will light the world on fire, well, I’d take my chances with Helathy Longoria, thank you. More importantly, you never want to see nagging injuries, especially on someone as he hits his mid-30s. And this finger injury is nagging like hell.
Mostly, though, I feel bad for Longoria. He’s been a solid player and person since coming to San Francisco, and an injury marred his comeback season in 2021, and now another injury is marring his 2022. It seems prosaic to call this bad luck, but that’s exactly what it is.
The Giants, as they always do, have their work cut out for them. However long Longoria is out, whether it’s a week or a month or some unit of time with a lengthier description, someone will have to cover, and that someone isn’t likely to be as good as Longoria.
Hopefully, Longo will come back soon with a bionic thumb that is better than ever and he’ll get right back to his early season 2021 form. If not, though, the one silver lining the Giants have is that they’ll get to take good, hard looks and players who otherwise wouldn’t have gotten that kind of chance. It sucks. It’s great. That’s baseball.