SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants are evaluating whether to place left fielder Ángel Pagán (back spasms) and third baseman Eduardo Núñez (right hamstring) on the postseason equivalent of the disabled list, manager Bruce Bochy said Tuesday before Game 4 of the National League Division Series against the Chicago Cubs.
Bochy said that Pagan, who was scratched from San Francisco's lineup approximately an hour before Monday's Game 3, had endured back discomfort for a couple of days. Bochy added that the Giants must soon decide on a course of action for Pagan, the switch-hitter who's 2-for-6 in the NLDS.
The same goes for Nunez, who hasn't started since he injured himself at San Diego on Sept. 25. Nunez has pinch-hit in each of the first three Division Series games, going 0-for-3 in those appearances.
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"It's come around slower than we had hoped," Bochy said, referring to Nunez's strained hamstring. "I thought that he would be further along at this stage."
Under Major League rules, position players must replace position players and pitchers must replace pitchers if changes are made to a postseason roster due to injury. Giants general manager Bobby Evans also explained that a team must prove that a player is legitimately hurt. Moreover, disabled players are ineligible for the next postseason round, so the Giants must carefully evaluate Pagan and Nunez.
• Shortstop Brandon Crawford remained in the Giants' lineup despite a tender left elbow. Crawford was hurt when he was struck by an attempted pickoff throw at third base from Cubs catcher Willson Contreras in Monday's eighth inning.
• According to the Elias Sports Bureau, San Francisco's Conor Gillaspie became only the second left-handed batter to record a triple or a home run off Cubs closer Aroldis Chapman in the regular season or postseason. Gillaspie yanked his big hit off Chapman in Monday's eighth inning to join Baltimore's Luke Scott, who homered off Chapman in 2011, on this extremely short list. Also, Gillaspie and Crawford became the third pair of left-handed batters to stroke base hits in the same game off the left-handed Chapman.