Giants announce NLCS roster
With the addition of Michael Morse, the Giants will have a little more pop in the NLCS than they did in the NLDS.
Ezra Shaw
Michael Morse will return to the San Francisco Giants' roster for the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals in a move announced on Saturday.
Morse was held out of the Giants' NLDS win over the Washington Nationals with a strained oblique, an injury that has kept him out of the lineup since Aug. 31. Expanded rosters prevented the Giants from having to place Morse on the disabled list, but the 32-year-old outfielder/first baseman hasn't played at all since Sept. 19. Prior to the injury, Morse was a well-above-average offensive player who finished the season with a .279/.336/.475 line, good for a 130 OPS+.
The Giants relied heavily on Travis Ishikawa down the stretch during Morse's absence. Ishikawa received nine starts and collected 45 plate appearance during the final month of the season. He didn't hit much, posting a .205/.311/.282 line in September. Despite that, Ishikawa was left on the postseason roster, with Bruce Bochy instead electing to remove Gary Brown from the roster.
Brown, the 25-year-old speedy outfielder, was 3-for-7 (.429) in September, his first major league stint, but appeared in only one game of the NLDS against Washington, striking out in his only plate appearance.
Starting pitchers (4): Madison Bumgarner, Tim Hudson, Jake Peavy, Ryan Vogelsong
Relief pitchers (8): Jeremy Affeldt, Santiago Casilla, Tim Lincecum, Javier Lopez, Jean Machi, Yusmeiro Petit, Sergio Romo, Hunter Strickland
Catchers (2): Buster Posey, Andrew Susac
Infielders (6): Joaquin Arias, Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, Matt Duffy, Joe Panik, Pablo Sandoval
Outfielders (5): Gregor Blanco, Travis Ishikawa, Michael Morse, Hunter Pence, Juan Perez
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