Ramos (right quad strain) heads to IL; Brennan recalled

WEST SACRAMENTO -- The Giants will be without their starting left fielder in the coming weeks, as Heliot Ramos landed on the 10-day injured list with a right quad strain on Saturday.

Ramos hurt his quad while attempting to make a sliding catch in the bottom of the fifth inning of the Giants’ 5-2 loss to the A’s on Friday night and is expected to miss “at least a couple of weeks and probably more than that,” according to manager Tony Vitello.

“We’ll see how things go for him,” Vitello said. “It’s obviously painful. It stinks. It’s a deal where you guys saw firsthand last year, he did all right out there [in left field]. I think he’s really worked hard to get better out there. It’s ironic or painfully coincidental that he does it trying to bust his [butt] trying to make a play. He’ll do everything he can in his power to come back even better, and then we’ll make do in the meantime.”

The Giants called up outfielder Will Brennan to replace Ramos, who was batting .267 with a .731 OPS and four home runs over 44 games this year. Ramos had been particularly effective against left-handed pitching, hitting .308 with an .896 OPS in 2026, so the Giants will need other right-handed bats like Matt Chapman, Casey Schmitt, Jesus Rodriguez and Daniel Susac to help make up for that loss for the time being.

Drew Gilbert started in left field against A’s right-hander Luis Severino on Saturday, but Vitello said Schmitt, Brennan, Rodriguez and Eric Haase could all be candidates to see time at the spot while Ramos is out.

Schmitt is a natural infielder, but he’s been taking fly balls in the outfield during batting practice and made his first career appearance in left field after coming in to replace Ramos on Friday night. Schmitt could get some starts in the outfield in the near future, which would make it easier for Rafael Devers and No. 1 prospect Bryce Eldridge to split time at first base and designated hitter.

“It does allow you to solve some puzzles a little bit more with Bryce and Casey,” Vitello said. “I think it would have been unfair to [Schmitt] to do it without the time he's put in, but … he's put in a significant amount of time. You really can't pull any positives out of what's unfortunate for Ramos, but last night was the best possible runway to do it for the first time with him. We need offense, not defense out there, and it's not like he's not capable. You guys know his skill set defensively, and he's put in the time to do it.”

While the Giants lost an outfielder Saturday, their bullpen got a boost from the return of left-hander Erik Miller, who was activated off the 15-day injured list after missing 14 games with a lower back strain. Right-hander Tristan Beck was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento in a corresponding move, leaving four lefties -- Miller, Matt Gage, Ryan Borucki and Sam Hentges -- in San Francisco’s bullpen.

“It's great to have Miller back, and there's a little bit of freshness added to it,” Vitello said of his current bullpen mix. “We haven't really ridden a starter to the point where you'd say, ‘Well, that guy's kind of been asked to do a lot.’ I would say the same about any reliever, except for one exception, and it's Gage. So it allows [us] to take a little bit of weight off his shoulders.”