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By Aaron Coloma
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San Francisco Giants shortstop Willy Adames left Wednesday's loss to the Houston Astros early with a back injury, but shouldn't miss too much time.
The veteran infielder exited late in the loss, noticeably holding his back after trying to turn a double play in the seventh inning of the game. He didn't look especially sharp prior to that, either, clearly missing something on his throws. The back issues aren't new to Adames, as they've been nagging at him since June—missing three games after leaving June 28's game early.
“I had to fight him tooth and nail to come out of the game,” said manager Tony Vitello. “Anyone who saw him moving around obviously knew he wasn’t moving around after that play full speed. The biggest thing was just to prevent anything from getting any worse than it is. I think his frustration is there’s been symptoms there lingering for — to be honest, I don’t know how long of the year.”
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Despite his early exit, Vitello doesn't believe Adames needs to take a trip to the injured list — though he will probably miss the Giants' next game on Friday.
After hitting 30 homers during his first season in San Francisco last year, Adames has struggled to get the ball rolling in 2026. He has 19 homers through 116 games, posting the lowest OPS of his career so far— a .698 mark.
His back issues may be weighing down his performances, especially in recent months, as he has a .205/.302/.360 slash line with a 90 wRC+ since the beginning of July.
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Who Will Replace Willy Adames If He Heads to the IL?
The Giants will hope to avoid a stint on the injured list for Adames, as they are rather shallow when it comes to shortstop. Currently listed on their MLB.com depth chart are Adames and utility man Casey Schmitt, though he is out for the year tearing his meniscus.
Christian Koss is on the active roster and has filled in at shortstop a couple of times this season, but his production so far this season is far below league average—as he has a .433 OPS through 70 at-bats.
The Giants will hope Adames can recover in time to feature in Saturday's game of their next series, which comes at home against the Colorado Rockies and begins Friday at 7:15 p.m. PT.
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