WASHINGTON D.C. -- The Giants have a lineup that's built to wear you down one-through-nine, not follow the lead of one superstar. But earlier this week, Wilmer Flores did his best to put the rest of the team on his back.
Flores hit four homers, drove in seven runs and added a pair of doubles in a split with the Cincinnati Reds, but he's been out of the starting lineup for both games against the Washington Nationals. On Friday, Flores got a pinch-hit appearance in the seventh with runners on the corners and the Giants trailing by a couple of runs. When asked a day later about Flores' playing time, manager Gabe Kapler pointed to that important plate appearance.
"The best thing about Wilmer, when he's on the bench, is he can come off the bench," Kapler said. "Ideally you have Wilmer Flores and Austin Slater to counter any left-handed moves that the other team makes. On a day like today, it's really nice to know that he's there and we can deploy him whenever we need him."
The Giants have used this strategy often under this staff, and have had a lot of success late in games when they've been able to get a high-leverage at-bat for Flores or Slater, or on the other side, someone like Joc Pederson. They're sticking to it now, even though the lineup has been in a slump and the middle of the infield hasn't produced much without Thairo Estrada and Brandon Crawford.
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Flores hasn't made a start at second since the new shift rules went into place in the offseason, and the Giants are again prioritizing defense up the middle with ace and groundball specialist Logan Webb on the mound Saturday. Their hope is that Flores gets a chance to swing the game off the bench. Casey Schmitt and Brett Wisely will start up the middle.
"I feel like we can have Wilmer hit in the game, play second base for us, and it doesn't necessarily have to be at the start of the game, and then we can still continue to focus on the development of the young players," Kapler said. "It feels like Wisely is getting a little bit closer. Casey has got some work to do, but we want to see them continue to develop. I think the best thing for the Giants is for those guys to get going."
--- Patrick Bailey was out of the lineup for the third time in the last five games. The Giants are watching his workload, but Kapler said this was more about what's ahead, calling it a "bit of a preemptive strike."
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The Giants will see lefty Mackenzie Gore on Sunday, which is a day game after a night game. They'll likely face Tarik Skubal on Monday in Detroit and then Ken Waldichuk and Hogan Harris on Tuesday and Wednesday back home against the A's.
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That's four straight left-handed pitchers and Bailey could start against all of them before getting another day off on Thursday, which is the team's first off day of the second half.
--- The Giants activated Luke Jackson after he missed 21 games with a lower back strain. To clear a roster spot, they DFA'd right-hander Mauricio Llovera, who was out of options. Llovera allowed one run in five short relief appearances in his return to the big leagues.
--- Brandon Crawford (knee) did on-field work and remains on track to return when eligible next weekend.
