The Giants announced today that right-hander Landen Roupp has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to July 23rd, due to right elbow inflammation. Righty Tristan Beck has been recalled from Triple-A Sacramento as the corresponding move.
At this point, it’s unclear how severe Roupp’s elbow issue is. He took the ball on Tuesday against Atlanta, throwing 87 pitches over five shutout innings. Presumably, something has cropped up in the days following that start. Time will tell if it’s a minor issue or something more serious, though it’s always somewhat concerning when a pitcher’s throwing elbow is injured.
It’s a notable blow to the Giants regardless. Roupp has been a key cog in the rotation this year, having made 20 starts with a 3.11 earned run average, 21.3% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and 45.7% ground ball rate.
The San Francisco rotation has taken a few hits in recent months. Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks were both included in the Rafael Devers deal. Hayden Birdsong hit a rough patch, posting a 10.38 ERA in his five most recent starts, which led to him getting optioned to the minors a few days ago.
Subtracting Birdsong and Roupp now leaves the Giants with a rotation of Logan Webb, Robbie Ray and Justin Verlander. Webb and Ray still form a strong one-two punch at the front but Verlander has a 4.70 ERA on the year. Without Harrison and Hicks, there’s a bit less depth to provide cover.
The Giants are still in the race, currently just one game back of the Padres for the final Wild Card spot in the National League. President of baseball operations Buster Posey recently stated that the Giants are scouring the market for rotation additions. Perhaps he already knew about Roupp’s injury when he made those comments, but regardless, the development could increase the club’s aggressiveness on that front between now and Thursday’s deadline.
Webb is taking the ball tonight and Ray tomorrow. Verlander is slated for Monday. The Giants will have to figure out plans for Sunday and Tuesday. Perhaps they will deploy bullpen games with guys like Beck, Sean Hjelle or Carson Seymour doing some long relief work. Guys like Carson Ragsdale and Mason Black are on the 40-man roster, though Ragsdale just started yesterday and Black the day before. Prospect Carson Whisenhunt is stretched out in Triple-A but isn’t on the 40-man and the club may not want to promote him if they’re going to acquire pitchers at the deadline and have to bump him back down again.
Photo courtesy of Darren Yamashita, Imagn Images
Nooooo he’s so cool I love his curveball!!!
Harrison traded.
Roupp to the IL.
Birdsong sent down.
Who’s the 5?
Webb
Ray
Verlander
4 ?
5 ?
Probably the 2 Carsons unless they make a move
That’s an entire rotation (exception of Webb) held together with some spittle, a pack or gum and some duct tape, the rest of the summer is going to be painful to watch…Ray’s tiring and hitting an inning limit and no one knows which Verlander will show up
Oh, we know which Verlander will show up and it isn’t pretty. Losing a great arm like Roupp really hurts right now.
beck, maybe teng, black or whisenhunt but a trade could very well be in order
please no Teng…another outing like he got last year will give that poor boy no confidence, and only then show he should only be in a mop up role in the bullpen
he has actually been killing it in sac right now, if he gets a call it is going to be trying to catch a guy on a hot streak
yeah but he’s being used strictly as a reliever/opener…this doesn’t help with their starting hole
Teng has been excellent as a starter this year. In his last 4 games, he has been a starter who has pitched 19.2 innings only allowing 1 run with 35/7 K to BB. In 3 of the 4 games, he has at least pitched 5 innings, so a starter’s work load, not an opener’s.
SSS in AAA…meh
Sure, small sample size, but you can’t argue it is impressive in a league as offensively leaning as the PCL. A 2.82 FIP over the whole season is also not nothing.
It’s better than the one MLB outing sample size you are using to evaluate him.
Agree that Beck is a possibility. He had been a starter in college and mostly in the MiLs. He looked to be ready to start until the injury last season torpedoed his development.
Neither Whisenhunt nor Teng are on the 40 man, so who would the Giants have to DFA to create a spot?
maybe gage – maybe they tranfer someone to the 60 day
I wonder if Encarnacion gets bumped off the 40 man.
Not sure the Giants are willing to let either Gage or Encarnacion get claimed off waivers. Especially Gage with a lot of teams looking for bullpen help.
I wouldn’t want the Giants to lose either Encarnacion or Gage. I guess when Encarnacion returns he could be the rightfielder in a platoon with Yaz. Matos would be sent back down unless he is involved in a trade.
Cal Quantrill aced his start against the Brewers today, has a 3.98 ERA over 61.0 innings as of May 1st, 54/14 K to BB over the same period, has only thrown 90 innings this season, on a 1 year / 3.5M dollar deal, Quantrill stock is going parabolic!
Ugh.
Verlander is in fact the #5. Who the #3 & #4 will now be is the hard question. A deal can’t come together quick enough.
Verlander is a good three, probably a better two than Robby Ray. Ray has had the horseshoe all season. I dont know if Verlander can get it back to his ’22 but he could get it back to his ’23 and down the stretch that is what the Giants need.
You’re funny, Ray has been one of the top pitchers in the league, while Verlander can’t stop walking people
BWmiller:Verlander is NOT a number 2 over Ray. And he’s not a great number 3. Verlander has looked fairly cooked. Just getting to 5 innings has been a struggle for him. He’s not using fastball enough, probably because it’s not lively anymore. Not sure what you’ve been watching.
Overland is one more bad outing away from moving to the bullpen
Err Verlander even
I guess its just a hunch of sorts. Verlander’s last start was a good one, one hit over 5.0IP, he’s a different pitcher than he used to be, but when he gets the a handle on it, he will be good.
Replying to myself…after reading the replies…
They really need to trade for a SP or two. Adrian Houser? Paul Blackburn? Giants can’t trade for a real SP like Edward Cabrera or someone of that caliber because they can’t deplete the system any further. Definitely curious to see the Carsons. Whisenhunt is/was a pretty big name prospect. Carson Seymour was easily the best player in the Ruf trade at the time and now, a few years later. I was sorta shocked when they let go of Seymour in the Ruf trade. He’s got some pitching tools and he’s kind of athletic, very flexible dude. I believe he sticks in the majors, in what capacity, who knows? The ghosts of Farhan and Billy Eppler live on in Carson Seymour, 2025.
enter at least 5x 1st inning homeruns from Beck with his 91mph heater with awful K rates,..there goes the Giants chances…
He throws 95, tf you on about?
When? Had he hit 95 consistently?
According to Statcast he’s averaging 94.6 on his 4-seamer.
baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/tristan-beck-…
Maybe you should actually watch the games
Blew it out making the jobber Braves look like……well jobbers.
I get they used him to get Devers…but could’ve really used Harrison right now.
they should have traded Birdsong, but neither Harrison nor Birdsong really now where the ball is going this year…
birdsong has the higher upside but he has to get right
Harrison has the better pedigree and has show signs of brilliance, Bridsong is too much in his own head
Signs of brilliance. Missed that. I saw flashes of potential.
There is a reason the Red Sox wanted Birdsong before Harrison.
I think the big difference is that birdsong has a lot of tools and harrison has a dominant fastball and not a lot of tools outside of it. that is why birdsong has a much higher ceiling, his mechanics just fell apart all at once and out of nowhere. I think he can get right but it wasn’t going to happen at the major league level
The problem with Harrison is he hasn’t taken the next step. He’s bascally pitching in AAA for Boston and his stats are barely average. Too many walks. I’ve seen no brilliance at all.
This is calculated. He’s coming up on Max innings in a season. And they’re gonna need him down the stretch.
possibly, but his fill in options are atrocious at best, so by the time he comes back, who knows how far back in the standings they’ll be in
Well, you can’t relay on one guy the #3 starter to carry you when he’s never gone more than 107 innings or so. He’s at 101 right now. I’d say miss about 3 starts. 8 left after that. 5 innings avg. 40 more innings for his season. Maybe a few in the postseason if we make it. That would be Max 140 for this regular season I am guessing.
Verlander showed alittle better but he’s going to be out there no doubt. And the other guys Posey mentioned too as options down the stretch, Wisenhunt, etc. Plus a starter possibly traded for who has tenure to go 180 or more innings a season.
I hope they don’t fall out, But the offense is where the focus would be for that, For them to maintain in the standings the next few weeks with Roupp taking a breather.
I agree JayRyder. They’re giving Roupp a little break because they’re watching his innings. Smart, but timing is at a bad time. That recent 6 game losing leaves no margin for error. Just as the offense is showing life the pitching is not. Even though they’ll need Roupp down the stretch, the stretch won’t mean anything if they don’t win in the meantime.
6 games against the pirates while Roupp is out plus a Thurs off day. Plus trade deadline, I’m assuming Posey is confident they bring in at least a #4 starter who can eat up innings. Which would happen in about 3-4 days. Timing is what it is. He needs the breather now before he gets hurt, and possibly has some already nagging thing ? They say he does. And I’m thinking with the teams behind them not doing as well as expected and some selling with the 3 Wild Card Slots. Giants have some room to give Roupp some time I think.
My concern is that the first two wild cards are creating some distance between themselves and the last wild card spot. It’s starting to look like the Padres, Giants, Reds and Cards are fighting for the 3rd wild card. Even Marlins and Diamondbacks are still a factor. Not a comfortable scenario but doable IF the Giants start winning more often. I don’t see them going on a winning streak with the starting pitching becoming vulnerable. I believe “torture” is back. Go Giants.
I think you’re being generous including the Marlins and D’backs as possible WC teams. AZ trading away Naylor suggests that they don’t think they have much of a chance. And I expect the Marlins to trade away pieces this week too.
The Giants have a better shot than those 2, and I’m pessimistic about their chances. I like a lot of the guys on the Giants, but they just don’t look like a playoff team.
So I do agree when you say you don’t see them going on a winning streak, with the starting pitching becoming vulnerable, and that “torture” is back.
That’s a very optimistic take, and I hope you’re right. It absolutely screams TJ or similar serious injury.
See you in 2027, Landen……
The Giants are going to need JV to pump pump pump it up!
Based on what we’ve seen, it will take a miracle.
I just don’t see that happening unfortunately. You sound like a big fan of JV but he’s not close to the guy you think he is anymore. IMHO
Giants = sellers
I don’t want to see them throw any actual prospects at meatballs – no innings eaters please!
Take the medicine and see where our current depth takes us
Non Roster:
In other words, I agree! Let the chips fall where they may for this one and start looking ahead to next season . We have a fairly talented group of players, so lets see if they can rise to the occasion.
If their offense would have played to their capabilities the first couple months we’d have a cushion, giving Roupp some time off wouldn’t be an issue now.
This sucks. Hope it’s nothing serious.
This is not good
Next up Beck & Seymour.
Hjelle & Bivens to back them up.
Not ideal, but not gonna panic yet.
Just need to get the offense rolling, like now.
Hjelle seems like he gives up runs in every appearance lately and Bivens hasn’t been good lately either. But that’s the cards we’ve been dealt. Time for the offense to pick up the pitching and they didn’t do that against the Mets last night. Webb is also in a funk now. We’ll see who starts tomorrow and it won’t be Beck. I’m thinking Luchessi should get a shot. If not Sunday maybe Tuesday
Roupp has been a very pleasant surprise this year. Now it’s time for Posey to make trades for at least one big starting pitcher whether it be Ryan, Alcantara or whomever.
I think Roupp will be a workhorse in the future. He’s pretty solid physically. I believe he’ll be back sooner than later. Probably after a minimum DL stint. Let’s hope.