Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
It appears that Logan Webb’s bullpen stint lasted less than 24 hours.
The Giants will place Johnny Cueto on the 10-day injured with a grade 1 lat strain, they announced Thursday, after Cueto signaled to the dugout and immediately left Wednesday’s game with what they had termed as a tight lat.
Cueto had been rolling, pitching 5 2/3 scoreless innings after a sterling, 8 2/3-inning outing previously and looking like the front-of-the-rotation weapon the Giants signed rather than the post-Tommy John version they saw last year. Grade 1 strains typically take 2-3 weeks to heal, but more will be known when Gabe Kapler speaks publicly Friday in Miami.
“If he has to miss some time, those are shoes that are going to be difficult to fill,” Kapler said after Wednesday’s win. “We’ll do what we always do, which is step up for each other.”
The likely step-up will come from a pitcher who had barely stepped back. Webb had been pulled from the rotation officially earlier Wednesday, when Kapler announced Alex Wood would come off the injured list and take Webb’s spot in the rotation for a Sunday start. Webb threw an inning in relief Wednesday, but could be available either as a bulk-innings option in Miami or for a start in Philadelphia, where the Giants start a series on Monday. Cueto’s turn in the rotation would come Tuesday.
A corresponding roster move for Cueto’s IL stint is expected to come Friday. It’s likely they’ll activate someone, perhaps a reliever, for a few days before adding Wood to the active roster Sunday.