ANAHEIM — Don’t look now, but center fielder Steven Duggar‘s batting average at Triple-A Sacramento is up to .298 after his typical slow start. Fellow outfielder Austin Slater’s start has been anything but slow. His .349 batting average is among the best in the Pacific Coast League.
The front office and manager Bruce Bochy monitor their Triple-A players. As they showed with Mac Williamson, they are not shy about dipping into the minors for offensive help, which they have needed.
Williamson was an easy call. He has big-league experience and his power numbers and spring-training performance were hard to ignore, and Hunter Pence was lost at the plate and has a thumb injury.