SFGate/San Francisco Chronicle
The first week of the season, batting coach Hensley Meulens raved about the Giants' three young homegrown hitters, calling them "possibly the cornerstone for the organization for a long time to come."
Pablo Sandoval, Buster Posey and Brandon Belt were healthy then.
Today, all are shelved, having taken a detour from their road to collective stardom. After the Giants fell 2-1 to Colorado on Saturday, Belt joined Sandoval, who has missed five weeks, and Posey, who's done for the season, on a disabled list that has been used by 11 players.
All last year, 13 players went on the DL.
"The bone will take a month to heal fully, but I don't plan on being out that long," Belt said after MRI and CAT scans showed he has a hairline fracture in his left wrist, a result of getting plunked by St. Louis' Trever Miller on Tuesday.
Initial X-rays were negative, and Belt said he felt improvement in recent days. But now it's time to rest, not exactly what Belt or the Giants envisioned when he broke from spring training as the starting first baseman.
Belt lasted only 17 games before his .192 average earned him a ticket to Triple-A Fresno, where he played mostly in the outfield to further his versatility. He returned last week and went 2-for-5 in two games before getting hurt.
"It's really frustrating, especially when you just get up here, and I was feeling pretty good at the plate and in the field before the injury," Belt said. "The team was starting to get on a little roll, and I was pretty excited. Then all of a sudden, this happens. It's a little bit of a setback, but nothing we can't overcome."
Madison Bumgarner surrendered one earned run in seven innings, and Cody Ross hit a home run on Cody Ross Bobblehead Day. Not many other positives for the Giants on Saturday.
Shortstop Brandon Crawford's throwing error on a double-play attempt handed the Rockies an unearned run in the fifth, and Andres Torres was picked off in the bottom of the inning after he hit a one-out double (one of four Giants hits), a play that troubled manager Bruce Bochy.
"He wasn't going anywhere," Bochy said. "He just kind of got in no-man's-land there, and we're getting to the heart of our order with (Jhoulys Chacin's) pitch count getting up there. That was not a good play for us."
The Rockies' second run came on Troy Tulowitzki's two-out single in the sixth. With first base open, Bumgarner threw a curve he targeted for the inside, but it spun into Tulowitzki's happy zone.
The Giants are promoting infielder Conor Gillaspie to replace Belt.
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