SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Michael Morse came to camp last month with two options in mind: Make the opening day roster or go home and settle into retirement. With a week left in the desert, Morse is all of a sudden left with a third choice.
Morse injured his left hamstring during Monday's game in Glendale and he's expected to miss at least two weeks. At some point after he celebrates his 35th birthday Wednesday, Morse will have to decide if he wants to rehab and potentially head down to Triple-A to get ready to try and join the Giants.
"I don't know … I don't want to think about that yet," Morse said. "If it gets to that point, I'll think about it, but right now it's (about) how I feel every day. I don't want to get ahead of myself."
Manager Bruce Bochy is hopeful that Morse decides to play this out.
"It's going to be a little while for him," Bochy said. "It's hard to say exactly how long, but two weeks minimum. It's really too bad for him. He was doing all he needed to do to make the club. It's a shame.
"I think, not just the way he was swinging the bat, but he was playing a good first base and I put him in the outfield. I think he was moving around well. He came into camp in tremendous shape. That should show him he still has some baseball left. Good baseball."
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Morse has three homers this spring and he was coming on in the days before he got hurt. On Monday morning, a few hours before the game against the White Sox, a member of the staff said that -- barring an injury or unexpected breakthrough elsewhere -- Morse would open the year with the club. While he was sprinting out of the box later that day, Morse felt tightness. An MRI showed enough damage to sideline him the rest of spring training.
The timing is brutal, but if Morse rehabs and then goes to Triple-A Sacramento to get at-bats, he would still be in a solid spot. The Giants like his presence, and not just on the field.
"Hopefully we get him back pretty quickly," Madison Bumgarner said. "We definitely enjoy having him around. He's definitely a big contributor."
Morse has had a smile glued to his face throughout 37 days at Scottsdale Stadium. Even Tuesday, a day after a sprint out of the box cost him dearly, he was a boisterous presence in the clubhouse. He took the bad news in stride.
"I came in knowing I'd either do really bad or really good," he said. "I thought I played pretty good. It just sucks that I had to get hurt. I don't think this is something that'll stop me from getting a shot at playing. I always thought I wasn't done. I always thought I could keep playing, I've just been dealt a couple of bad cards the last couple of years.
"I proved to myself that I can still play," he added, smiling, "And I proved to myself yesterday that I'm not really a fast runner."
