Marco Scutaro set to join San Francisco Giants on Friday
By Hayden Kane
The San Francisco Giants, hoping to desperately to regain the dominant form that had them at the top of the National League West for the first few months of the season before they were overtaken by the Los Angeles Dodgers, will finally see the return of a key veteran player on Friday.
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Second baseman Marco Scutaro, who has yet to play this season due to a back injury, is finally on his way to making his 2014 debut. According to Hank Schulman of the San Franciso Chronicle, Scutaro will play nine innings in his final rehab appearance before being activated to return to the Giants on either Friday or Saturday.
"Manager Bruce Bochy said Scutaro is expected to play nine innings for Triple-A Fresno on Thursday then join the Giants on Friday. If he is not sore, he will be activated with the hope he can bat second and start at second base. If he needs a day to recover, he can be activated Saturday."
This timetable is even more accelerated than the Giants had initially hoped when they said that Scutaro could return after the All-Star break. While the veteran infielder might not have a huge impact immediately as he eases back into the speed of the game, he stands to be a significant improvement over the guys who have tried to fill that void so far.
Getting Scutaro back sooner also allows the Giants to start the process of assessing their trade needs. They have expressed interest in trades for infielders, including second basemen like Ben Zobrist. How serious they pursue such deals might be dictated by how Scutaro looks upon returning.