The Giants have placed left-hander Alex Wood on the 15-day injured list due to a left hamstring strain, per Evan Webeck of the San Jose Mercury News. Right-hander Tristan Beck has been recalled to take his place on the roster. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle had previously reported that Beck was with the club.
Wood, 32, started last night’s game for the Giants but departed after appearing to injure himself while fielding a bunt. It was later announced as a hamstring strain, per Slusser. It’s an unfortunate development for the Giants, as Wood was out to a nice start here in 2023, currently sporting a 1.80 ERA through three outings. Wood is an obviously talented pitcher, currently owning a 3.67 career ERA in 1,131 innings, but injuries have been a frequent obstacle. Shoulder and back issues have been a frequent culprit, with the southpaw only tossing 48 2/3 total innings over 2019 and 2020. After moving to the Giants for the 2021 season, he’s had some better health but still only got to 26 starts and just over 130 innings in each of the past two campaigns.
With Wood out, it’s possible that Ross Stripling gets another crack at a rotation job. It was reported last week that he would be moved to the bullpen after a rough start to the year, but he pitched well last night, helping the club get through the game after Wood’s departure. He tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings with three strikeouts, two hits and no walks. He told Slusser this morning that he’s ditching his new changeup for now and focusing on getting his typical repertoire in good shape. Even with last night’s good outing, his ERA is still at 7.30 for the year, but he had a much better 3.01 mark for the Blue Jays last year. That compelled the Giants to give him a two-year, $25MM deal in the winter with an opt-out after 2023. The Giants still have four rotation spots spoken for between Logan Webb, Alex Cobb, Anthony DeSclafani and Sean Manaea, with Stripling perhaps taking over that #5 slot. Manager Gabe Kapler tells Slusser that there’s a good chance Stripling does indeed return to the rotation.
It’s unclear how long Wood will be out of action, but his move to the IL opens a spot for Beck, 27 in June, to join the club and perhaps make his major league debut in the near future. A fourth round selection of Atlanta in 2018, he came to the Giants in the 2019 deadline deal that sent Mark Melancon the other way. Injuries have been a running theme of his career so far, as he dealt with back issues in college and then a herniated disc limited him to just 37 1/3 innings in 2021.
Last year, he made three Double-A starts before getting bumped to Triple-A. He posted a 5.64 ERA in 97 1/3 innings for the River Cats, who play in the notoriously hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. His peripherals paint a nicer picture, as he had a 22.7% strikeout rate, 6.8% walk rate and 42.4% ground ball rate, leading to a 4.28 FIP. He has a 3.38 ERA through three Triple-A starts here in 2023. Since being acquired, he’s been featured on many lists of the top prospects in the system and was added to the 40-man in November to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft.
It’s amazing how many injuries have occurred this early in the season. Wonder if starting the season in March in cold weather cities has anything to do with it???????
Injuries happen all the time and the season started on March 30th, and it always starts around then. The only thing I can think of as to why pitchers are struggling or getting injured is the pitch clock. But in Woods case it was because he hurt it going after a bunt single last night.
Wood is hurt a lot anyway,
Just call me Balsa, boss!
Gabe hopefully is fired by the All Star break. He is truly terrible at managing the bullpen/lead.
Farhan I think gets a pass, but they need to fire Kapler sooner than later if they plan on getting free agents
Farhan is the one who put this mediocre team together, he deserves more blame than Kapler. If Kapler was given a loaded roster and still struggled then sure. But when you’re given a roster full of castoffs and injury prone players, it’s on Farhan. You’re not going to win Black Jack if you aren’t handed the right cards.
I don’t think either guy gets fired, unfortunately. Giants brass already articulated a desire to extend Zaidi prior to the start of the season. I’m not crazy about Kapler, but I agree that the team he has been given is a bunch of injury-prone stiffs and nobodies.
They both need to go.
Ah yes, let’s call up another starter to be put into the pen instead of calling up an actual reliever. Makes total sense. Working wonders so far. Bullpen doing great!
And use them as setup guys and closers
BP is a total mess – there seems to be no hope coming yet.
Still waiting for Harrison, Waites, Hjelle, Black & Winn to be called up.
Hjelle is already there, dude. Harrison and Waites have been getting knocked around in AAA, so probably keep waiting on those two.
Waites was first called up last year
watch him explode for the Giants. A’s GM is the worse in baseball. The guy has dismantled a team getting back almost nobody.
With the A’s, you have to reckon with that; the team has no money and the only way they compete is by trading away quality for quantity. In the mid 2010s, it seemed like they had a working strategy for doing this and being competitive. But the team has come up short these last couple of seasons, and playing in that town under that kind of ship-’em-in-ship-em-out culture has to be demoralizing for both the players and the fans of the team.
With the A’s, all the blame falls on owner John Fisher. He makes a profit every year and doesn’t spend a penny on payroll
>ditching his new changeup
New? The changeup Stripling used last year was fantastic. He used it against righties too. Why would he change the change?
Unfortunately, Farhan isn’t going anywhere. He’s fulfilling his primary mission, which is to assemble a cheap, barely ML-passable team that allows the Johnson family to make money off an inferior product, while selling overpriced beer to fanatics. Despite his challenges managing the BP, Kapler has already shown he can steer a team to the postseason when given the players, but as long as the Zaidi plug-and-play dumpster diving continues to ensure profits, the Giants will remain this way.
Biff, sadly you’re right
It could be fun to see Tristan Beck. Hopefully not as a setup guy or save situation