Giants place Mike Tauchman on 10-day injured list with knee sprain

The Giants announced they’ve placed outfielder Mike Tauchman on the 10-day injured list due to a right knee sprain. To replace him on the active roster, San Francisco reinstated fellow outfielder Jaylin Davis from the 60-day IL. A 40-man roster spot for Davis’ activation was opened when right-hander Gregory Santos was suspended for performance-enhancing drugs earlier this week.

Tauchman is expected to miss only 10-14 days, as his sprain is relatively minor, the team told reporters, including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Upon his return, the 30-year-old will need to perform better than he has in recent weeks. The Giants acquired Tauchman from the Yankees in April, but the left-handed hitter has managed only a .180/.292/.295 line in 161 plate appearances in black and orange. Tauchman is out of minor league option years, so the Giants will need to continue to keep him on the active roster once he returns from the IL or make him available to other clubs.

The activation is a nice birthday present for Davis, who turns 27 years old on Thursday. He’ll be making his season debut once he gets into a game. Davis has been sidelined all year by right knee tendinitis. The powerful right-handed hitter hasn’t done much over 59 major league plate appearances to date, but he’s mashed at a .329/.412/.709 clip in 357 trips to the dish at Triple-A.

The Giants also provided an update on injured first baseman Brandon Belt. He’ll attempt to rehab from the right knee inflammation that sent him to the IL last week, via Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic. Surgery, which would’ve sidelined Belt for 8-12 weeks, had been on the table, but there’s a realistic chance for the 33-year-old to return without going under the knife. There’s no timetable for his return, but Baggarly notes he’ll “definitively” be back in less than two months if all goes well.