SAN FRANCISCO -- Giants rookie Austin Slater, a source of hope in a disappointing season for the team, experienced tightness in his right hip flexor during Sunday's 8-2 loss to the Mets at AT&T Park. He left the game after six innings.
Slater, San Francisco's 24-year-old left fielder, will undergo an MRI on Monday to determine the injury's extent. Slater himself wasn't certain enough about his condition to attempt a self-diagnosis.
"I'm going to wait and see. I really don't know that much," said Slater, who's batting .324 in 20 games since being promoted from Triple-A Sacramento on June 2.
Slater said he hurt himself while catching T.J. Rivera's second-inning line drive. The ball traveled directly over Slater's head -- typically the toughest chance for an outfielder -- which forced him to twist and change directions before making the play.
"I got kind of turned around and I just felt something," Slater said.
Afterward, Slater said, simply being in motion caused discomfort. Asked if trying to hit was painful, he replied, "It wasn't so much the swinging. More so the running."
Slater has hastened the Giants' incremental offensive improvement in June. The team is batting .272 for the month, fifth-best in the National League. That encompasses Slater's last 15 games, a stretch in which he hit .370 with 10 RBIs.