Emmanuel Burriss Sent Down to Fresno

Henry Schulman of the SF Chronicle reports that Giants 2Bman Emmanuel Burriss has been sent down to Fresno and called up 25 year old Fresno 2Bman Matt Downs.

It’s probably a good move.  Burriss has been stone cold of late, and his OBP has dropped below .300.  Since his only real offensive skill at this point in his career is getting on base, something needed to be done.  In Fresno, Burriss will play every day and work on the lead-off hitter skills the Giants want him to work on, and it will give Burriss a chance to rebuild his confidence at a much better place to hit.

Matt Downs will also get a shot, and if he’s lucky and gets off to a good start, maybe he’ll have a career.  I doubt it, however.  Downs has a .786 OPS at Fresno this year, which isn’t bad for a middle infielder, but it doesn’t suggest that he’s a major league player either.

Still, a chance is a chance, and this is probably the best chance that Downs will ever get.  He’d better take advantage of it.

Meanwhile, to make room for Downs on the 40-man roster, the Giants designated catcher Steve Holm for assignment.  This means that Holm has to go through waivers, and there is an outside chance another team might claim him.  His OPS at Fresno this year is a feeble .657, but he does have 53 games of major league experience over the last two seasons and played creditably at the highest level.  If there’s a team desparate for a third-string catcher and they’re paying attention, Holm could get claimed.