SF Giants lose one slugger to injury, add another to roster in time for trip to Coors Field

SAN DIEGO — With 10 games left in the regular season, the Giants have lost one of their top offensive contributors for at least the next week.

The club announced Thursday that Darin Ruf has been placed on the 10-day injured list retroactive to September 20 with a right oblique strain. The transaction allowed the Giants to activate left fielder Alex Dickerson from the 10-day injured list and will give Ruf time to prepare for a potential return ahead of the final series of the regular season against the Padres.

Dickerson has been sidelined since September 3 with a right hamstring strain, but has been healthy enough to rejoin the active roster for the last week. With the Giants out of room to add Dickerson, the club had the power-hitting outfielder extend his rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento.

Dickerson has struggled with consistency at the plate this season, but the Giants are hopeful his performance on Tuesday night at Triple-A is indicative of what’s to come over the next week.

In his last rehab game, Dickerson recorded a pair of doubles and launched a long home run. He rejoins the Giants in time to travel with the club to Coors Field this weekend, which is where he had one of the best offensive showings in franchise history last September.

In a 23-5 win over the Rockies on September 1, 2020, Dickerson went 5-for-6 with three home runs and a double as he led the top scoring output of the Gabe Kapler era with six RBIs.

With the Giants slated to face three right-handed starters in Colorado this weekend, the Giants are hopeful a setting where he’s had previous success and favorable matchups will enable him to regain the form he showed in 2019 and 2020.

In 50 career at-bats at Coors Field, Dickerson has recorded 10 extra-base hits and posted a 1.233 OPS.

The Giants will be able to activate Ruf as soon as September 30 when they host the Arizona Diamondbacks and it’s possible he’ll be ready to return to the lineup immediately when he’s eligible. Ruf has dealt with an oblique issue for the last week or so and manager Gabe Kapler is optimistic that a week of rest will enable the right-handed hitting outfielder to produce at a high level during the postseason.

Ruf has been one of the Giants’ most important right-handed hitters this season as he owns a .999 OPS against lefties. With San Francisco slated to face Rockies righties Peter Lambert, Jon Gray and Chi Chi González in Colorado this weekend, it’s unlikely the Giants would have had Ruf in the starting lineup for any of the three matchups.