Marco Scutaro Done For Year: A Salute

Aug 10, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants second baseman Marco Scutaro (19) in the dugout after being batted in on a two run RBI double against the Baltimore Orioles during the sixth inning at AT

A few moments ago on twitter, the San Francisco Giants’ beat writers broke the news that Marco Scutaro is officially done for the rest of the 2013 season.

So let us take a moment to appreciate the year Marco has had, despite his lingering back issues and funky “mallet finger”.

In 127 games, Scutaro hit .297 with a .357 OBP — he struck out just 34 times  in 547 plate appearances and walked 45 times.

The scrappy second baseman and NLCS hero from the Giants World Series run in 2012 had 145 hits this season, ranking 3rd on the team behind Buster Posey (149) and Hunter Pence (174) currently.  In 156 games last year he had 190.  So despite the lingering injury issues that were no doubt contributed to by the extended playoff run — he is 37 years old after all — Scutaro toughed it out and managed to put together an impressive season at the plate.

The common gripe this year with Scutaro has been his defense.  He committed 13 errors this season, and has seemingly lost a step in the field — to be expected in the latter years of a career.  With two years left on his contract, it might behoove the Giants to add another second baseman to spell Marco from time to time, or commit to one of the young guys.  But, Scutaro remains a valuable part of this lineup — shutting him down and getting him ready for 2014 is something this fan agrees with.

So, to the 2012 NLCS MVP, we salute you for your perseverance this season.  The consummate professional, we appreciate you risking having a forever-bent pinkie in an effort to help the team.