OAKLAND, Calif. — Oft-injured starter Anthony DeSclafani probably won’t pitch again for the Giants in 2023. If so, he’ll have gone the first two seasons of his three-year contract with the franchise without having pitched in meaningful games.
DeSclafani, 33, is currently on the 15-day injured list with a Grade 1 elbow strain. The right-hander received a PRP injection on Sunday, making him a no-throw for the next six to eight weeks. Under that timeline, he won’t touch a mound again until late September at the earliest and will probably cede his roster spot as a 60-day IL placement.
“Texted with him earlier today, obviously got the news that the PRP injection went well,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said Sunday. “And that there’s going to be some downtime now. Don’t want to rule anything out. Obviously nothing set in stone. But it’s going to be a while. We’ve got a full August, September — don’t want to rule anything out, but that’s where we are with it.”
DeSclafani earned a three-year, $36 million deal with the Giants after his terrific 2021 season. That year, as San Francisco won a franchise-record 107 games, DeSclafani posted a 3.17 ERA in 167.2 innings. He tossed two complete game shutouts — as many as any pitcher in the league.
DeSclafani’s performance tailed off slightly in the second half as he dealt with ankle discomfort. In the winter of 2022, which was impacted by the lockout, DeSclafani inked his three-year deal. He thought the ankle pain would dissipate with rest of the winter, but issues persisted.
After five starts in 2022, DeSclafani got season-ending ankle surgery. He pitched only 19 innings in the first year of his new contract.
Before the ankle injury, DeSclafani had been relatively durable. He had some shoulder problems as a Red, but never underwent Tommy John surgery or had significant red flags. His innings totals in his first full seasons went 184.2, 123.1, 115, 166.2 and 167.2 in 2021.
Once DeSclafani returned for 2023, he looked like the version of himself whom the Giants wanted to keep around. In his first seven starts, DeSclafani registered a 2.80 ERA. He struck out 33 hitters in 45 innings while walking four. His sinker-slider combination resembled 2021. Much of DeSclafani’s value is his ability to pitch deep into games; he dealt at least six innings in six of his first seven outings.
But he couldn’t sustain the production.
DeSclafani’s starts thereafter became more and more inconsistent. He’d limit the dangerous Diamondbacks to two runs in six innings one turn, then last just three innings his next time out. When he hit the injured list with forearm soreness, he admitted that he’d been pitching through pain for weeks.
If this is the end of DeSclafani’s season, as all signs indicate, he’ll have a 4.88 ERA in 99.2 innings pitched. For the second straight year, he won’t be able to help the Giants make a playoff push.