D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports
There are plenty of worrisome aches and pains and worse infesting the Giants at the moment, but Logan Webb’s shoulder might be the largest concern.
The Giants placed the righty starter on the 10-day injured list — for a second time this season with a shoulder strain — before they opened a series at Oracle Park against the Cubs on Thursday.
Webb “felt some soreness in his shoulder” in a recent bullpen session and the Giants will shut him down for a few weeks, Gabe Kapler said of a pitcher whose solid Saturday start against the Dodgers was his first in 12 days.
Kapler said Webb felt fine after his 62-pitch outing in Los Angeles, but the bullpen session indicated he was not over the shoulder strain.
“We’re going to be a bit more cautious and for good reason,” Kapler said. “Obviously the fact that he had this this right shoulder soreness again makes us take more pause than last time.”
After starting slowly in his first few outings, Webb had emerged in his last few. In six starts beginning April 25, he posted a 2.94 ERA while opponents batted .198 against him — and that streak included a rough turn at Coors Field.
Now Webb, who has thrown 49 innings a season after he totaled 54 1/3, will take a prolonged break. If he does not throw for a few weeks, a return to the rotation — for which he would have to build his arm up again first — might not happen until July at the earliest.
In the short term, the Giants do not know who their Friday starter will be. Nick Tropeano was called up with a corresponding move, and he could be an option; Scott Kazmir, who is away from the team for a personal issue, is expected back soon and could be in the running; Conner Menez is built up to take down innings.
Anthony DeSclafani will be Thursday’s starter, and the Giants want to see what their bullpen situation is after the game.
“I think the first step is getting through tonight and seeing where we are with our usage before finalizing any decisions,” Kapler said over Zoom. “We have a couple of different ways we can go.”
Not yet an option is Aaron Sanchez, who threw his first live batting practice Thursday since going down with what the Giants have called right bicep tightness. Sanchez will need to build up, too, though it seems possible he could do so naturally out of the bullpen. Kapler did not know the plans yet.
“Just seeing him get back out on the mound for his first live BP session is encouraging, and we’ll probably want to see another time off the mound before we make any long-term plans,” the manager said.