Giants to move sloppy Frandsen back to 2B, continue SS search

AP News

Kevin Frandsen is out as the San Francisco Giants' shortstop.

The 25-year-old infielder has been replaced in the lineup by non-roster invitee Brian Bocock while the Giants continue to search for a temporary replacement for Omar Vizquel.

Frandsen committed a team-leading three errors and was struggling at the plate before manager Bruce Bochy decided to make a change.

"I felt a little bit out of my element the last couple of days just because it was like almost like the first week of spring training for me over at shortstop," Frandsen said Thursday. "I was probably trying a little too much there, so now they're going to get me more into a second base, third base thing like I was planning on in the first place before spring training."

Frandsen started at second base against Kansas City on Wednesday. A day later, he was at third base when the Giants played the Angels.

While the Giants haven't given up entirely on using him at shortstop, Frandsen welcomed the move.
"It was weird because I went out to play second base and everything felt comfortable," he said. "Everything was natural again. I was going to the right spots. I wasn't over-thinking where I need to be. It is what it is. I wanted the challenge at shortstop. Now I get the chance to get back into that whole thing about second base."

Frandsen came into spring training expecting to compete with Ray Durham for the starting job at second base but was moved to shortstop when Vizquel had surgery to remove a torn medial meniscus on Feb. 27.

The 40-year-old Vizquel, an 11-time Gold Glove winner, has been rehabbing in Arizona and getting treatment. He was originally expected to be sidelined up to six weeks, and the team announced on Wednesday that he was off crutches and progressing as planned.

Bocock, 23, hasn't played above Class A during two years in the Giants' minor league system but hit .385 in his first six games of spring training.

Frandsen is optimistic the move back to second base will benefit him in the long run.

"The management and all of them are thinking what's going to be best for me at this point in time," Frandsen said. "If I go and play shortstop all spring, I'm going to play it for maybe one week during the season. Then after that I'll be at square one with second and third. So they're really looking at what's best for me."

Frandsen has played 25 games at shortstop in parts of two big league seasons but spent most of his time at second base.