SAN FRANCISCO — Bruce Bochy had plenty of injury updates to give prior to the Giants’ Monday night game against the visiting San Diego Padres.
The most recent and pertinent news is that second baseman Joe Panik successfully underwent surgery on his left thumb. Panik injured his thumb Friday night during a pickoff attempt on Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig.
“All went well,” Bochy said regarding Panik’s surgery. “He had the ligament in the left thumb, the UCL, repaired. We are probably looking at around six weeks. But they have felt really good how everything went. He will be up here (Tuesday).”
As for more long-term injury news, Madison Bumgarner continues to recover from a broken pinky injury he suffered in his final Spring Training start. Bumgarner had surgery last month.
Bochy said Bumgarner flew to Arizona Monday night and will be re-evaluated Tuesday. He will start throwing this week if he is cleared. Bochy said it will likely take Bumgarner another couple weeks to schedule a bullpen, but possibly shorter.
The positive news: Bumgarner hasn’t suffered any known setbacks and continues to recover according to his original timeline.
“I don’t want to sell this guy short, trust me,” Bochy said. “Once he throws (on) flat ground three or four times, he will be ready for a bullpen.”
Outfielder Mac Williamson was placed on the disabled list over the weekend after suffering concussion-like symptoms from colliding into the left-field wall Apr. 24.
“He says he feels great, no symptoms — that’s good news,” Bochy said about Williamson. “He can’t start playing until the weekend.”
The story of San Francisco’s season has been trying to overcome one injury after the next. Initially, the Giants’ top three starting pitchers — Bumgarner, Jeff Samardzija, and Johnny Cueto— were on the disabled list. More recently, position players such as Panik and Williamson have continued the injury bug that has swept through the roster.
But the Giants remain in third place in the National League West with a 14-14 record. Bochy takes solace in his team’s standing amid the setbacks.
“We are not content with being .500, but I think you look at all that has happened with injuries, including the position player side, Pence going on the (disabled list), now Panik— really, it’s been pretty good,” Bochy said. “That’s what I am happy about: the fact that we have hung in there. Again, we are not where we want to be, but we are .500.”
