Casey Schmitt called up, Nick Ahmed placed on the IL

The San Francisco Giants are, at long last, getting younger. It’s just that they’ve waited for a slew of injuries to force it. Just four days after right-handed pitcher Mason Black made his MLB debut, due to Blake Snell’s injury, and just two days after outfielder Heliot Ramos was recalled to replace the injured Jorge Soler, the Giants are turning to young infielder Casey Schmitt.

Schmitt was called up ahead of Friday’s series opener against the Cincinnati Reds, with infielder Nick Ahmed landing on the 10-Day Injured List with a sprained left wrist. Ahmed first injured the wrist about two weeks ago, and hadn’t been playing very well since. He re-aggravated the injury during Thursday’s loss to the Colorado Rockies, and was replaced early in the game by Tyler Fitzgerald.

A stint on the IL seemed very likely, it was just a question as to whether the Giants would replace Ahmed with Schmitt, Marco Luciano, or Brett Wisely. And now we have our answer.

Schmitt will hope to recreate the success he had this time last year, when he made his MLB debut and had, quite literally, one of the greatest first weeks in MLB history. Unfortunately he fell off after that, and finished the year with a .580 OPS and a 59 wRC+, which were some of the worst marks in the Major Leagues.

So far it’s been a shockingly hot-and-cold year in AAA for Schmitt, who has a .767 OPS and an 84 wRC+. Through the first nine games of the year, he hit an ice-cold 4-37 with one double, three walks, and 11 strikeouts. Then he rattled off a 15-game hitting streak that was almost unbelievably good, hitting 26-62 with four home runs, one triple, four doubles, three walks, and 12 strikeouts. Since then he’s cooled off, hitting 7-35 with one home run, one double, four walks, and nine strikeouts. The Giants, needless to say, will be hoping for the production in the middle of that sandwich.

While Schmitt’s calling card is his Gold Glove-caliber defense at third base, the Giants have been intent to see what he can do at other defensive positions, too. He’s only played 29 innings at shortstop this season (largely so that Luciano can play there), but it was his primary position in Sacramento last year.

It will be interesting to see whether Schmitt is the everyday shortstop with Ahmed out, if Fitzgerald is, or if they split time. Both will be in the lineup on Friday, with Schmitt playing shortstop and batting seventh, with Fitzgerald batting eighth and playing in left field. Ramos will play in right field and bat sixth, so it’s a great game to watch if you like the kids!

Bob Melvin said after the news was announced that Ahmed is likely to miss more than just the minimum of 10 days for his IL stint. Melvin also added that Patrick Bailey caught Blake Snell’s bullpen session on Thursday, and the catcher should return from the 7-Day Concussion IL on Saturday, with Snell making a rehab start on Sunday. Center fielder Jung Hoo Lee, who is sitting for the second straight game with a foot contusion, could return on Saturday.

It’s been a busy day for Farhan Zaidi and Co., as the Schmitt/Ahmed news comes shortly after it was reported that the Giants had made two small trades, shipping off recently-DFA’d pitchers Daulton Jefferies and Mitch White to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Milwaukee Brewers, respectively.