NL West Notes: Estrada, Blackmon, Dodgers, Peralta, Ohtani

Giants infielder Thairo Estrada is likely going to be placed on the seven-day concussion injured list after he was hit in the head by a Mark Leiter Jr. pitch in last night’s game.  Estrada was able to leave the field under his own power, after initially spending time on the ground being evaluated by team medical staff.  Estrada has hit .262/.316/.406 over 342 plate appearances this season, a step behind his solid numbers from 2021 but still good for an above-average 106 wRC+.

Between this respectable bat and his defensive versatility, Estrada has been a valuable member of San Francisco’s roster, but his likely absence will leave the Giants quite thin at shortstop.  With Brandon Crawford on the 10-day IL and yet to begin a rehab assignment, Jason Vosler is the only player on the active roster with any time at shortstop this season.  It seems likely that one of Isan Diaz or Donovan Walton will need to be called up from Triple-A to fill that void, unless the Giants make another move in advance of the trade deadline.  Since the Giants could be sellers at the deadline, Estrada’s injury probably ensures that he’ll remain in San Francisco beyond August 2, though his team control through the 2026 season already made him one of the Giants players less likely to be moved.

More from around the NL West…

  • Rockies GM Bill Schmidt told reporters (including Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post) that the club hasn’t received any trade asks about Charlie Blackmon, though it doesn’t seem like Blackmon would waive his 10-and-5 rights to allow a deal anyway.  Blackmon has spent his entire professional career in the Colorado organization, and “I think it would be much more fulfilling for me to be successful with the Rockies than it would be to do it somewhere else, after what I’ve been through and the commitment from both sides.”  Blackmon already said last October that he was planning to exercise his 2023 player option (worth at least $10MM), and intimated to Saunders and other reporters that his perspective hadn’t changed.
  • Before the Diamondbacks traded David Peralta to the Rays yesterday, The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya reports that the Dodgers had interest in Peralta’s services.  With Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy struggling all season long, the Dodgers could use some more help from the left side of the plate, and the team has the flexibility to explore options ranging from platoon options to superstars like Juan Soto.  As for Peralta, it could be that the D’Backs preferred the Rays’ offer to whatever the Dodgers were willing to give up, or perhaps Arizona wanted more in exchange for moving Peralta to a division rival.
  • Speaking of big left-handed bats, “the Dodgers have tried to engage the Angels” about a possible Shohei Ohtani trade, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi tweets.  The Angels are reportedly at least listening to other teams’ offers for Ohtani, even if Anaheim’s asking price is said to be huge, and a trade seems quite unlikely.  Morosi’s specific phrasing implies that the Angels weren’t willing to truly “engage” with the Dodgers in talks, which perhaps isn’t surprising — as Morosi notes, “many in the industry are skeptical that Ohtani would be dealt to the Angels’ geographic rival.”

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