The Giants knew they weren’t going to get a full season out of their entire rotation. They knew they might have to get creative to find rest for their top arms.
It’s a problem most clubs have now, when starters rarely throw 200 innings in a season. But sometimes teams don’t have the luxury of picking and choosing when and how to give their pitchers a blow.
The Giants, with starter Alex Cobb now on the 15-day injured list with a neck strain, are in that bind. Down Cobb and Anthony DeSclafani (right ankle inflammation), the Giants will have to fill another spot in the rotation during this nine-game homestand and possibly beyond.
“Don’t know what to make of it, other than it just kind of sucks,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “He’s dealing with it. He’s pretty frustrated. Rightfully so. He’s had some of the best stuff that he’s had in his career and he just wants his body to cooperate with him so he can stay on the field and on the mound for us.”
Cobb has been one of the most unlucky pitchers in baseball according to the difference in his ERA of 5.73 and FIP (2.63). Through eight starts, his 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings is a career-high.
The righty was scratched from his June 3 start with lower back pain. Kapler said Cobb also experienced discomfort in his hamstring and neck stiffness. There was no specific event that caused the injury, Kapler said, and a scan didn’t reveal anything alarming.
The Giants recalled Sam Long, a hybrid starter, in wake of Cobb’s IL designation.
When Cobb got scratched in Miami, the Giants cobbled together a bullpen game in a 15-6 victory. John Brebbia opened, Sean Hjelle provided three innings and both Jarlin García and Zack Littell chipped in two frames apiece.
Kapler said the Giants have a fully healthy bullpen at its disposal to absorb Cobb’s absence. Long can take down multiple innings and SF can always recall Hjelle back from Sacramento. Cobb’s next scheduled starts would have been Thursday, June 9 against Colorado and Tuesday, June 14 against the Royals.
The team hopes Cobb can make a start in Pittsburgh, which would have to be the first possible day he’s eligible to come off the IL: June 19.
Last year, just four pitchers in MLB threw at least 200 innings. San Francisco replaced Kevin Gausman — fifth in innings pitched — with Carlos Rodón and Cobb, two starters with injury histories. DeSclafani, who will be eligible to return from the 60-day IL on June 21, was scheduled to throw a bullpen at Oracle Park Tuesday.
“I guess the silver lining here is maybe we’re saving some pitches,” Kapler said. “Maybe some innings. I don’t think anybody expected any of our starters to go out and make every start, pitch seven or eight innings. We’re going to need to find ways to give them rest. Sometimes you don’t get to decide when that time is.”