Bob Melvin discusses Matos demotion, second-half 'cavalry' on 95.7 The Game

The San Francisco Giants walked it off in extra innings Monday night, by the hands of Austin Slater, facing a right-handed pitcher. It was a massive moment for Slater, who had been batting .128 before returning from the injured list.

When Slater returned, it was met with uproar. Luis Matos was sent down to the minors in a corresponding move, leaving many to wonder why the Giants eschewed youth.

The best person to answer those questions is Bob Melvin, who joined Willard and F.P. Tuesday afternoon to talk the Matos move and everything else Giants.

"Luis Matos is gonna have a long career for us," Melvin said. "And I don't know where we'd be without them for that period of time. He was the player of the a week, he was as hot as anybody in baseball. And it was huge for us. So he's a part of this team right now even though he's not here. You got to make some tough decisions sometimes. He slowed down a little bit obviously, he can get a little swing happy at times. The key for him is going to be able to shrink zone, draw some walks and get good pitches he can hit. But he's a terrific talent. He's going to be a Giant for a long time."

Melvin struck an optimistic tone when asked about how the Giants have survived their early season rash of injuries.

"We've been all over the place with the amount of injuries that we've had," Melvin said. "We're starting to get some guys back which is key for us. Lamonte's going to be huge for us and Nick Ahmed's starting to play. Tom Murphy is not here too. So there's quite a few guys that are still out there in position players. And then on the pitching end, obviously with Blake getting injured again and then Alex Cobb's gonna throw a bullpen today. He has he got slowed down there for a while and then Robbie Ray is coming in. So like you said, the cavalry will be here at some point in time. And I that's when I believe we're going to do our best work is probably in the second half when everybody's healthy."

Listen to the full interview above.