September callups: Zach Morgan returns, lefty Ceasr Perdomo added to 40-man

Today is the September 1st roster expansion where teams can go from a 26-man active roster to 28. The San Francisco Giants have added a third catcher to their roster by bringing back Zach Morgan, who’d just been added to the 40-man roster on August 10th; and, a left-handed reliever in 24-year old Cesar Perdomo, who will be making his MLB debut when or if he gets into a game.

Let’s put a pin in the specific player talk just for a moment, though, to examine the Giants roster. Here’s Andrew Baggarly’s

commentary about the callups:

If you want to impress your friends or win a bet later today, memorize this list of current 60-day ILers:

Hayden Birdsong
JT Brubaker
Jose Butto
Matt Gage
Adrian Houser
Trevor McDonald
Joel Peguero
Randy Rodriguez
Carson Whisenhunt
Rowan Wick
Daniel Susac
Matt Chapman
Harrison Bader
Casey Schmitt

Willy Adames is plausibly bound for this list as well, and the Giants injury tracker is a real whopper.

One thing to keep in mind about the 60-day IL players is that they can’t be there in the offseason. JT Brubaker is the only free agent in the bunch so, absent any DFAs/cuts (ahem, Harrison Bader), that’s 13 roster spots to be mindful of when thinking about who else the Giants might call up. That could be why we’re not seeing Bo Davidson right now… or they’re just waiting for Willy Adames to hit the 60-day.

Because this is an important evaluation period for the players who are left. I’ll admit to getting a little excited by Jonah Cox’s performance of late. Reiver Sanmartin had a 2.24 FIP in 13 IP in August. Turner Hill is showing his utility. Grant McCray is playing himself out of the organization.

So, it’s less that there are spots up for grabs, and more that it’s time for these fringe roster guys to earn their keep. Who’s going to be sticking around in 40-man slots 27-40 next season?

Morgan was in the majors for, like, 5 minutes after being added to the 40-man on August 10th and then optioned on August 11th. He’s yet to play a major league inning. In the minors, he’s done more than just catch, with a game in left field for Richmond, but also innings at first, third, and even the occasional DH. And, yes, he pitched 1.2 innings; so, the position player pitcher group has been shored up a bit after Christian Koss.

He has a career .334 OBP in the minors but just a .679 OPS.

Meanwhile, Perdomo could make the lefty reliever situation heading into next year interesting. With Gage and Hentges injured an older and a bit more expensive, maybe the Giants are trying to find similarly talented and slightly cheaper options in Sanmartin, Perdomo, Phil Abner, and… Carson Whisenhunt?

Or maybe Perdomo is just there to be a long man behind, say, Landen Roupp or Blade Tidwell, the other two starters in this Pittsburgh Series? He’s struck out 125 in 120 IP this season and has a 4.43 ERA in 24 games (22 starts) across Double-A and Triple-A. Back in June, FanGraphs had this to say about him:

Perdomo is a smoke-and-mirrors lefty with above-average control and a nice changeup, a spot starter’s skill set.

He’d strike out 13 just 4 days later, but outside of that, he has basically been that all year. Anyway, welcome to The Show, Cesar Perdomo! Go get ‘em.