In a series featuring multiple rookies in each starting lineup, the host San Francisco Giants will pull for Drew Gilbert to get his first major league hit when they go for a second consecutive win over the Washington Nationals on Saturday afternoon.
Gilbert went 0-for-4 in his big league debut Friday night as a large contingent of family and friends cheered for him from behind the third base dugout at Oracle Park.
The 24-year-old Gilbert, summoned from Triple-A before Friday’s contest, became the fourth different right fielder employed by the Giants in seven games since they dealt Mike Yastrzemski to the Kansas City Royals at the trade deadline last week.
Gilbert was promoted after Jerar Encarnacion was forced onto the 10-day injured list with a strained right hamstring. Encarnacion had taken over for Luis Matos and Grant McCray, who had combined to go 3-for-17 with six strikeouts as Yastrzemski’s initial replacements.
Giants manager Bob Melvin noted to reporters after Friday’s 5-0 win that he could see Gilbert’s excitement in right field, where he made a diving catch on the warning track to provide a highlight on his hitless night.
“He’s done mostly center (field), but he can play all three (outfield positions),” Melvin said. “We talked about right field and he’s all-in. You can see his pre-pitch routine — he’s jumping around out there and moving on every pitch.”
Gilbert is a left-handed hitter who came to the Giants from the New York Mets in the Tyler Rogers trade at the deadline. He likely will get another start Saturday against Nationals rookie right-hander Brad Lord (2-6, 3.42 ERA).
Lord, 25, will make his fourth consecutive start after having begun his big league career with 29 of his first 35 appearances out of the bullpen. One of those relief efforts was a hitless two-inning outing against the Giants in a 3-2 home loss on May 25.
The Giants are expected to counter with another rookie, left-hander Carson Whisenhunt (1-0, 4.35 ERA).
Whisenhunt, 24, recorded his first major league win in his third start last Sunday against the Mets, allowing just one earned run in a 12-4 victory. The Giants lost his only previous home outing, a five-inning effort in a 6-5 defeat on July 28 to the Pittsburgh Pirates in a game he did not get a decision.
Facing Giants rookie Kai-Wei Teng in a bulk-innings role, the Nationals — who have lost eight of their past nine games — had two other rookies in the starting lineup in Friday’s opener. Third baseman Brady House batted third and went 0-for-4, while Robert Hassell III was slotted sixth and had one of Washington’s four hits, a single.
Hassell, acquired from the San Diego Padres in the Juan Soto trade in 2022, has been one of the Nationals’ top hitters since a promotion from Triple-A on Aug. 1. He is 7-for-18 (.389) with four doubles, a homer and five RBIs in seven games.
“I watched a lot of videos,” Hassell told reporters about his minor league demotion that followed a .218 average in his first 71 games with the Nationals this season. “My last stint up here, I started to get a little bit defensive, and (I was) just worrying about putting the ball in play instead of really hitting it hard. So (I am) just swinging with some intent (now).”
–Field Level Media
