SAN FRANCISCO–Mark Melancon’s rehab outing for San Jose didn’t go nearly as well as he had hoped.
After a near-perfect outing for AAA Sacramento in his first rehab start, followed by another steady appearance with A San Jose on Wednesday, Melancon lasted just 2/3 of an inning on Friday. He walked one and gave up four hits on four earned runs, including a two-run home run to the visiting 66ers’ designated hitter, Michael Barash.
Melancon’s start occured just a couple of hours after Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy remarked that Friday’s outing would be a big one for him, as the Giants are contemplating activating Melancon before the end of the homestand on Wednesday,
“I think we will after tonight,” Bochy said, when asked if he had an idea of when Melancon will return. “I think this is a big outing for him. The third outing. This is where he’ll have a real good idea of where he’s at, how he feels, if we can push this thing, all of those things. So we’ll see how it goes.
“He may come out of it and say I’m ready to go, it’s hard to say. Mark is the only one who can let us know that. We’re not going to push this or tell him, hey you’re pitching this day, it’s up to him to let us know where he’s at.”
Bochy also remarked on Melancon’s outing on Wednesday, in which Melancon gave up one hit, no earned runs and stuck out one over one inning.
“It went fine, that’s why he’s back out there pitching tonight,” Bochy said. “All good so far. So I think this being his third outing, because I said three or four if all goes well, would get him close to being ready so I think this will be a critical outing for him.”
In his 22 appearances with the Giants this season, Melancon holds a 1-2 record with a 4.35 ERA. He is 11-15 in save opportunities.
This is Melancon’s second trip to the disabled list this season, and both Melancon and the Giants indicated one of the reasons the closer landed on the disabled list a second time is because he rushed back from his injury earlier this year.
