Velez sent to Fresno to 'get his game back'

Henry Schulman - San Francisco Chronicle

Eugenio Velez is going to Triple-A Fresno, where he can play every day, learn the finer points of baseball and regain his confidence outside of the major-league glare. The Giants optioned Velez after Tuesday night's game and recalled 22-year-old infielder Travis Denker, who was acquired from the Dodgers in the Mark Sweeney deal last year.

"It's a few things" manager Bruce Bochy said in explaining the move. "He's been struggling at the plate. He's getting frustrated with that. It looks like his defense was affected. That, and the pickoffs. It seems like no matter what he did, things didn't go right for him. This is the right thing to do, send him down and get his game back."

The Giants have been in a quandary over Velez. They believe he has tremendous tools and have kept him in the majors despite his struggles because they hoped he could benefit from the instruction and experience.

In an interview last week, general manager Brian Sabean acknowledged that Velez has had a rough go trying to learn and play at the highest level.

"We're realizing that a lot of this is force-fed upon him," Sabean said. "It's obvious he doesn't have major-league playing time and doesn't know how to perform day in and day out offensively or defensively."

Velez, who will play some outfield as well as second base in Fresno, said he was not surprised by the move. Although he looked crestfallen, he said, "If they say I'm going to go down and play every day, that's fine. Right now, I'm too young" not to.

The alternatives at Fresno had been nonroster infielders such as Justin Leone and Ivan Ochoa until the emergence of Denker, who is on the 40-man roster and has hit .315 in 17 games at Fresno since his promotion from Double-A Connecticut. At the same time, Velez has not started a game since May 9, and the Giants thought they were doing him a disservice by keeping him in the majors and sticking him on the bench.

Hinshaw's start: Alex Hinshaw, the 25-year-old left-hander called up to replace the injured Merkin Valdez, has had quite a start to his major-league career. He has struck out four of his first six batters. They include Jim Thome and Todd Helton, two of the best left-handed hitters in the game who deserve to be at least in the conversation about the Hall of Fame.

Hinshaw said the experience "is kind of surreal, because you're facing (possible) Hall of Famers, but you've still got to get ahead and throw strike one. Initially, when you first toe the rubber, it's always a jittery feeling because I only have a limited amount of major-league experience. When it comes down to it, you've still got to make your pitches."

Hinshaw caught Thome looking at a curveball and Helton at a tailing fastball.