Jason Vosler is producing when the Giants need him most.
The third baseman homered for a second straight game on Saturday, and it was a special one as his first career Splash Hit sailed over the Oracle Park arcade in right field and into McCovey Cove.
The sixth-inning solo shot gave San Francisco some insurance in its eventual 9-3 win over the Washington Nationals, symbolizing the ironclad depth of a Giants roster filled with holes due to COVID-19 and injury.
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Vosler wasn’t sure if the ball had even reached the water as he rounded the bases, but called it a “cool” moment when he saw the Splash Hit counter on the arcade wall tick up to 92 after his swing of the bat.
“To do it and to see the number change to 92, and to realize it’s only been done 92 times is a really special feeling, and a cool feeling for sure,” Vosler told reporters after the game. “... It definitely means something. There’s definitely a little pop from the crowd when somebody does it.”
Vosler’s Splash Hit was part of a two-hit, two-RBI day for the 28-year-old. He hit his first home run of the season, a two-run shot, during the Giants’ blowout loss on Friday and is making an impact as part of a team severely lacking in left-handed hitters at the moment.
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There are currently six left-handed batters out of the Giants’ lineup, most of whom provided plenty of pop before being sidelined: Joc Pederson (groin), Brandon Belt (COVID), Mike Yastrzemski (COVID), Steven Duggar (oblique), LaMonte Wade Jr. (left knee) and Tommy La Stella (left Achilles).
Still, the Giants (14-7) have won six of their last eight and are neck and neck with the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the NL West. It’s thanks to clutch performances from players like Vosler, who is slashing .292/.379/.583 across eight games this season, and other left-handed Farhan Zaidi finds like Luis Gonzalez who have stepped up in their teammates’ absence.
It’s a clubhouse-wide mindset of “next man up,” Vosler explained, and he has tried to do all he can to help the Giants’ chances when given the opportunity.
“I'm trying to stay within myself … I’m really just just swinging at good pitches, putting the barrel on the ball and doing what I can within my means to help the team win,” Vosler told reporters after Saturday’s game. “I think there’s like that ‘next man up’ mentality where whoever’s on the field that day is going to do what is within their power to help the team win.”
It was the next man up mentality that helped Vosler and the Giants win a franchise-record 107 games in 2021, and the mantra has produced a winning formula so far this season with the ups and downs of a continuing pandemic and unexpected injuries to core players.
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Like last year, the race for a division title is likely to come down to the wire again. As long as the entire Giants roster -- from top to bottom -- continues to produce and pick each other up, the team’s previous success can be replicated.
In the meantime, Vosler is relishing in his first-ever Splash Hit -- but he isn’t sure where the ball went.
“I don't think anybody got [the ball] back. That'd be cool,” Vosler said. “... It is what it is. I'm happy being on the counter.”