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It took 15 innings for Sammy Long to prove to the Giants that he did not belong in Double-A. He cut that in half in Triple-A, where he spent 7 2/3 innings in two outings.
His next outing will be in the major leagues.
The 25-year-old from Fair Oaks, who was drafted by the Rays in 2016 out of Sacramento State, was cut before the 2018 season and briefly quit baseball and began taking EMT classes, has graduated from minor league life and will start for the Giants on Wednesday in Texas, FanSided reported Monday night.
After deciding to give baseball another shot, Long pitched in A-Ball with the White Sox in 2019 and missed the 2020 campaign because the minor leagues were not up and running, but continued to work out to be ready for whenever he could pitch again.
It paid off, as the Giants signed him and saw his stuff tick up, the southpaw now throwing mid-90s with his fastball to pair with a devastating curveball and good changeup. He pitched to a 1.99 ERA in 22 2/3 minor league innings this year with 37 strikeouts and now will get a chance to see how the stuff translates to the major leagues.
He had not pitched above A-Ball before this season, and now he will pitch at Globe Life Field. The Giants are lacking Logan Webb (shoulder strain) and Aaron Sanchez (right biceps tightness) and recently DFA’d both Nick Tropeano and Scott Kazmir, who would have been candidates to get spot-starts.
The Giants have been careful with Long’s usage, having him throw about 60 pitches in each of his 60 games so he could be available as a longer option out of the bullpen or so that it would not take a while to stretch him out, should they need him as a starter. He won’t be able to go 100 pitches, but he could take down four or five innings against Texas.