The San Francisco Giants activated shortstop Brandon Crawford from the 10-day injured list and outfielder Joc Pederson from the 7-day concussion list prior to Saturday’s game against the Oakland Athletics.
Crawford was sidelined with a left knee injury that he initially sustained on June 21 against the Atlanta Braves when he awkwardly slid into home plate. He returned on July 5 but the issues continued and he was placed back on the IL on July 16.
Pederson was hurt on July 28 against the Chicago Cubs when he banged his head into the left-field wall in the seventh inning while trying to catch a two-run homer by Patrick Wisdom.
San Francisco optioned infielder David Villar to Triple-A Sacramento and designated infielder Dixon Machado for assignment to open roster spaces.
Crawford, a three-time All-Star, is batting just .215 with five homers and 33 RBIs in 72 games this season. Last season, Crawford finished fourth in National League MVP balloting after establishing career bests of a .298 batting average, 24 homers and 90 RBIs.
Crawford, 35, recently stated the knee is bothering him on defense. The four-time Gold Glove winner has committed 11 errors in 70 games at shortstop this season after having just nine in 2021 in 135 appearances at the position.
Pederson, 30, recently made the NL All-Star team for the second time in his nine-year career. He is batting .242 with 17 homers and 43 RBIs in 87 games.
Pederson has 165 career homers, 407 RBIs and a .233 batting average in 972 games with the Dodgers (2014-20), Cubs (2021), Atlanta Braves (2021) and Giants.
Villar, 25, batted .175 with one homer and seven RBIs in 23 games with the Giants.
Machado, 30, went 3-for-15 (.200) in five games with San Francisco after being acquired from the Cubs on July 31.
–Field Level Media
