Giants infielder Marco Scutaro, 39, had to undergo back surgery and will be re-evaluated in several months. It's possible he misses the entire 2015 season and even that his career is over (just doing the simple math of his age and coming back from a procedure like this). That's rough news for the long-time utility man who finally became in All-Star in 2013, his age-37 season.
I wanted to highlight the oddity that was his 2012 season, though. It's a bit of a fun one and, hey, it's a slow news night. So let's take a look.
In January of 2012, Scutaro was traded by the Red Sox to the Rockies in exchange for Clayton Mortensen. At the time, Scutaro had a career batting line of .270/.338/.389 (93 OPS+). He was a 36-year-old utility infielder who was dealt straight up for a middling middle reliever.
Through 95 games with the Rockies in 2012, Scutaro was hitting .271/.324/.361 (74 OPS+). He was traded to the Giants, and all they had to give up was Charlie Culberson. Given the line above, a move from having home games in Coors Field (the top run-scoring ballpark in 2012) to AT&T Park (29th in run scoring in 2012) may have meant Scutaro would have a rough go in San Francisco.
Instead, Scutaro went nuts. In 61 regular-season games for the Giants, Scutaro hit .362/.385/.473 with a whopping 44 RBI. He destroyed AT&T, hitting .352/.399/.488 with nine doubles, two homers and 20 RBI in 33 games.
Not only that, but Scutaro would win the NLCS MVP after going 14-for-28 with three doubles and four RBI in the seven-game win over St. Louis. He hit just .250 in the World Series, but that included this Game 4 gem, which helped clinch the sweep:
As noted above, Scutaro would go on to be an All-Star in 2013.
What a run. The guy traded for Mortensen and then Culberson won a World Series ring and the NLCS MVP while hitting better in AT&T Park than Coors Field. He then parlayed that into his first All-Star trip at age 37. That's quite a run, and it's moves like these by Giants GM Brian Sabean that have led to three rings in five years.
Get well soon, Marco.
