Brandon Belt, Jeff Keppinger Are 2 Big Moves for San Francisco Giants in 1 Day

The San Francisco Giants have acquired Jeff Keppinger from the Astros. In exchange, minor league pitchers Henry Sosa and Jason Stoffel will head to Houston. Keppinger is a utility infielder capable of playing both the infield and outfield.

He’ll bring his batting average of .307 to San Francisco. He’s got four home runs on the season, with a 4:7 BB:K ratio. He will hopefully bring an offensive spark to an otherwise lackluster lineup, led by Pablo Sandoval. He’s the only active player on the roster to have above a .300 batting average. 

The other big news of the day is that Brandon Belt is back in the big leagues. Belt has a batting average of .324 with seven home runs during his time with Triple-A Fresno.

Giants fans can look forward to watching him at first base tonight as the Giants face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second game of this series. He’s in the No. 6 spot tonight in the lineup.

To make room for both Keppinger and Belt, moves need to be made. Unless Miguel Tejada goes to the disabled list, Hector Sanchez will be sent down to Triple-A to clear space for Belt. Freddy Sanchez has been moved to the 60-day DL to make room for Keppinger on the 40-man roster. He's still in Houston, and will likely arrive tomorrow. A roster spot will be made available once he gets to San Francisco.

Note: Last year on May 29, Buster Posey was permanently called up to the majors and Pat Burrell was signed to a minor league contract. That was one of the biggest days of the 2010 season that ended pleasantly, to say the least.

Today was a big day too.

Could it be one of the important moments of the 2011 season—yet another day that we’ll all look at fondly?