Suddenly, the moves are starting to flow. After a quiet first few weeks of the season, the San Francisco Giants are starting to use the transaction page a little more liberally. On on Tuesday, ahead of their game against the San Diego Padres, the team made a switch in the bullpen. Tall right-hander Sean Hjelle was recalled from AAA Sacramento, while veteran righty Jordan Hicks was placed on the 15-Day Injured list with right great toe inflammation.
It’s an opportunity Hjelle has been waiting for. After being a heavily-used reliever for the Giants last year, he was surprisingly optioned in Spring Training. He pitched quite well for AAA Sacramento, but had to watch from the sidelines as teammates Kyle Harrison and Tristan Beck were called up to reinforce the bullpen.
Now he’s getting his chance, and he’ll likely feel some pressure to run with it, as this is his final option year. Hjelle, the team’s second-round pick in 2019, has been very strong for the River Cats this season, appearing in 18 games and sporting a 2.97 ERA with a 2.75 FIP, while striking out 32 and walking 10 in 30.1 innings.
Hicks, on the other hand, has been struggling for a while, including on Sunday, when he didn’t look right while walking three of the four batters he faced. His IL stint is retroactive to Monday, and hopefully he’ll get some rehab time in Sacramento to work through some things.
Replacing Hjelle in Sacramento is right-hander Trent Harris, an extremely exciting reliever who had been having a dominant season with AA Richmond prior to this promotion. Harris, who could certainly make his way to the Majors this year, has given up runs in just one of his 13 appearances this year, and has 25 strikeouts against just four walks in 16 innings.