Bad news for the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants, as outfielder Angel Pagan is expected to miss up to 12 weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a torn hamstring tendon.
Originally Pagan was expected to be sidelined for 6 weeks, but skipper Bruce Bochy delivered the bad news on Monday. Pagan is pretty much an afterthought now as far as the regular season goes, but should any complications arise he could end up missing the whole rest of the year.
The one silver lining is should Pagan recover quickly that would give him time to finish up the regular season, which would cetainly be beneficial should the Giants make the post season. A crushing blow no matter how you slice it for someone who was so pivotal to their 2012 WS championship season.
Bruce Bochy said the following, via SFGate:
“It’s a loss. There’s no getting around it,…When you lose your leadoff hitter, the guy who led off for you all the way through the World Series and played a significant role helping you win a World Series, there’s no question it’s a loss.”
The Giants plan on using Gregor Blanco as their starting center fielder, with Juan Perez mix in, too.
The trade deadline is about 5 weeks away so the Giants have time to weigh their options for down the stretch.