San Francisco Giants (47-65, fourth in the NL West) vs. Texas Rangers (55-57, second in the AL West), Arlington; Monday, 7:05 p.m. CST
PITCHING PROBABLES: Giants: Logan Webb (6-7, 3.93 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 93 strikeouts); Rangers: Cal Quantrill (4-3, 3.84 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 39 strikeouts)
LINE: Rangers -110, Giants -108; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Texas Rangers begin a three-game series at home against the San Francisco Giants on Monday.
Texas is 28-25 at home and 55-57 overall. Rangers hitters have a collective .318 on-base percentage, the fifth-ranked percentage in the AL.
San Francisco has a 47-65 record overall and a 21-38 record in road games. The Giants are ninth in the NL with 126 total home runs, averaging 1.1 per game.
The matchup Monday is the first meeting this season between the two teams.
TOP PERFORMERS: Joc Pederson has 11 doubles, two triples and 20 home runs for the Rangers. Ezequiel Duran is 9 for 36 with a triple and two home runs over the last 10 games.
Rafael Devers leads the Giants with 23 home runs while slugging .481. Daniel Susac is 7 for 26 with three home runs and eight RBIs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rangers: 4-6, .226 batting average, 4.66 ERA, outscored by six runs
Giants: 5-5, .260 batting average, 4.29 ERA, outscored opponents by 11 runs
INJURIES: Rangers: Cody Freeman: 10-Day IL (disc), Chris Martin: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Robert Garcia: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Josh Jung: 10-Day IL (calf), Jordan Montgomery: 60-Day IL (elbow), Carter Baumler: 60-Day IL (ribs), Kyle Higashioka: 10-Day IL (flexor tendon), Jakob Junis: 15-Day IL (groin), Jose Corniell: 15-Day IL (elbow), Danny Jansen: 60-Day IL (forearm), Jalen Beeks: 60-Day IL (back), Cody Bradford: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jack Leiter: 15-Day IL (ankle), Michael Helman: 60-Day IL (hand)
Giants: Matt Gage: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jesus Rodriguez: 10-Day IL (elbow), Harrison Bader: 10-Day IL (plantar fasciitis), Joel Peguero: 60-Day IL (hamstring), Victor Bericoto: 10-Day IL (oblique), Matt Chapman: 10-Day IL (leg), Jonah Cox: 10-Day IL (oblique), Casey Schmitt: 10-Day IL (leg), Trevor McDonald: 15-Day IL (elbow), Jose Butto: 60-Day IL (arm), Hayden Birdsong: 60-Day IL (forearm), Randy Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Rowan Wick: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Bader’s pay was suspended by the team after he crashed a scooter, aggravating his injury. The decision will cost Bader roughly $1.5 million for the rest of this season, but potentially much more in 2027. Bader is owed $10 million in the second season of a two-year deal he signed in January, but there are long-term concerns about the left foot, per league sources. Bader and the MLBPA could fight the move, but he also is likely to have a tough time proving his side of the case. He was injured when he crashed his scooter in the Marina around 2 a.m. on Saturday night, and some within the organization expect that more information will come out, including the possibility of video.
This is not the first scooter-related incident for Bader, who was suspended while at the University of Florida because he was involved in an accident. During that collision, which occurred in 2014, Bader reportedly struck a curb and then ran into a Ford pickup truck.
Bader went on to become a third-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals, and after several other stops, he signed in free agency with the Giants this past offseason. The goal for the front office was to improve the outfield defense by putting Bader’s glove in center and moving Jung Hoo Lee to right, and at the time of the agreement, Posey spoke about the front office’s feeling that Bader could be a contributor at the plate, too.
At the time of the plantar fasciitis injury, Bader was hitting just .170 with a .198 on-base percentage. The move of Lee to right has been a success, but the Giants have had to rely on others in center field. Bader has played just 30 games because of a hamstring strain and plantar fasciitis, the latter of which landed him on the IL on May 30.
The Giants never expected Bader to miss this much time, but he had so many setbacks during the rehab process that they made an appointment to send him to Indianapolis to see a foot specialist. The scooter accident happened in the hours before Bader was set to go, but he did end up making the trip.
In a release, the organization stated that the scooter injury “changed the nature of his evaluation” and “complicated” the visit. Bader returned to San Francisco to get an MRI and see team orthopedist Dr. Ken Akizuki.
The Giants have not given results of that new MRI and likely will not. Because this was an off-the-field injury, it would now be up to Bader to provide information about the nature of this new injury and how it happened.
Bader has not spoken to reporters since getting hurt, although he did visit the ballpark twice after returning from Indianapolis, visiting with people in the clubhouse during a couple of games. He was said to be contrite.
The Giants have a somewhat lengthy history with this type of thing, including with Jeff Kent and Madison Bumgarner. But Bader’s situation is complicated by the fact that he reportedly was seen at bars before the accident, and he also already was hurt at the time of the scooter accident. Even without those circumstances, he might have been disciplined.
MLB’s collective bargaining agreement bans so-called “high-risk activities,” and players need the written consent of their organization to participate in sports like skiing, skydiving, or even exhibitions for other sports like basketball.
Scooters seemingly would fall in a gray area, but after several days of looking into the legal aspects of what’s next, the Giants felt they knew enough to stop payment to the veteran center fielder.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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