SAN FRANCISCO — Outfielder Mitch Haniger is not expected to make his Giants debut this homestand, manager Gabe Kapler said before the team’s home opener at Oracle Park on Friday.
Their highest-priced free-agent addition is more likely to make his debut during the club’s upcoming trip to Detroit and Miami starting April 14, Kapler said. However, Haniger said that he is still in the early stages of his rehab and will require a rehab assignment before he’s ready to join the big-league club.
Haniger suffered an oblique injury in spring training and was placed on the 10-day injured list to start the season. He said Friday that back tightness interrupted his progress and provided a minor setback.
“My back locked up for me right around the time the team left (spring training), so I had to put things on hold for a while,” he said. “But now I’m just kind of building up baseball activities and hopefully will start ramping things up here.”
He said he had to get some medication to let his back tightness calm down before he could start moving again and his body has since responded well. He started to hit off a tee on Friday and hopes to increase his swing volume in the coming days.
“Just hit off the tee today so, pretty early in the stages, unfortunately,” he said. “Hopefully it goes as quickly as possible.”
He added, “That doesn’t happen overnight. You’ve gotta go slow with that in order to let your body respond the right way.”
Haniger said he’ll definitely need a rehab assignment before he gets back to the Giants, which could make it difficult for him to return during the road trip between April 14-19, but Kapler remains hopeful.
Haniger hit 39 home runs two years ago with the Mariners, before an ankle injury limited him to just 57 games in 2022. He signed a three-year, $43.5 million contract with the Giants this past offseason and currently has the largest contract in the organization.
Not that the Giants are missing his power at the moment; they entered Friday leading the majors with 15 home runs through their first six games.
“They’ve been swinging the bat really well,” Haniger said.
In addition, catcher Joey Bart could be sent on a rehab assignment in the next couple of days.
“Joey is really looking good and looking good fast,” Kapler said.
Bart suffered a “very small” mid-back strain during batting practice before the Giants’ second game of the season. The Giants have since been carrying two catchers in veteran Roberto Pérez and Rule 5 pick Blake Sabol, who has made two starts at catcher and four in left field.
The second overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, Bart has a career .645 OPS in 133 big league games since 2020.
Staff writer Evan Webeck contributed to this report.
