Alex Wood has been pitching through a shoulder injury for “some time,” manager Gabe Kapler said Saturday, and it no longer makes sense for him to tough it out on the mound.
Wood hit the 15-day injured list, retroactive to Sept. 1, with a left shoulder impingement. He and the Giants will decide in the next five to seven days whether or not he’ll pitch again in 2022.
“It’s been more of a build up,” Kapler said. “I think he has just wanted to post and wanted to post. But he’s had some impingement in his shoulder for some time. I think going back five or six days, we all felt like he was still very much the best option for us to win baseball games. Going back that same amount of time, I think Alex believed he gave us the best chance to win and was going to post.”
Kapler added that Wood, a 10-year veteran, knows his body well and could push through the pain up until now.
Bryce Johnson, a speedy outfielder, was recalled in Wood’s stead.
Wood has a 5.10 ERA this season, though his strikeouts, walks and home runs numbers are similar to last year. He’s made 26 starts.
The Giants will have to cover Wood’s starts by committee, at least for the time being. His next scheduled start is Tuesday in Los Angeles. Kapler cited Jarlin García and Tyler Rogers as relievers who can provide multiple innings in a bullpen game. Triple-A pitcher Sean Hjelle could become an option at some point.
While Wood recovers, he and the club will decide whether pitching again this season is in the cards. The biggest variable factoring into that is health; the Giants will want Wood to go into this offseason with a strong, healthy foundation. But Wood, a competitor, will likely want to return and pitch for his team.
“It’s not good to go into an offseason banged up,” Kapler said. “Because then instead of building on what you accomplished the year prior, it feels like you have to start from scratch at a later date. That’s the number one consideration.”
The manager reiterated that September is a major priority for the Giants, and if Wood is healthy enough to pitch he will contribute to the effort of putting “our best foot forward.”
One reason September can be valuable is to give young players an opportunity to prove themselves. Midweek acquisition Lewis Brinson got a hit in his first Giants at-bat on Friday. Johnson, who took a 7am flight from Tacoma to San Francisco, could be more competitive at the plate than in his first stint with SF in which he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
- Brandon Belt’s knee operation Saturday morning was successful, Kapler said. His estimated recovery time is eight to 10 weeks.
- Jakob Junis posted a 7.13 ERA in five August starts, by far his worst month in a Giants uniform. The shape of his slider is key for the righty.
- Since June 19, when the Giants were 37-28, SF has gone 25-41 — the third-worst record in MLB in that span.