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Giants Place Jake McGee On 10-Day Injured List

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The Giants have placed reliever Jake McGee on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Because the injury placement is backdated to Tuesday when McGee first felt the muscle acting up, he will be available to return to the active roster by September 24 at the earliest.

Not long ago, it would have been scoff-worthy to suggest that McGee would find a role as the nominal closer for the team with the best record in the Majors – but here we are. McGee was one of the Rockies’ ill-fated bullpen signings back in 2017, and by the time that $27MM contract had run its course, McGee had fallen so far out of favor that Colorado released him before the third season was up. The southpaw posted an unfortunate 5.54 ERA over those two seasons in Colorado with unusually high walk and home run rates.

He’s rejuvenated now, however, having performed well for the Dodgers last season before catching on in San Francisco this year. He owns a 2.72 ERA/3.35 FIP across 62 games totaling 59 2/3 innings with an impressive 31 saves. Since leaving Colorado, his walk and home run rates have returned to normal levels – a 4.2 percent walk rate coming in well below the average mark and a 2.9 percent home run rate being exactly league average. McGee is also striking out a solid 24.3 percent of opponents.

Without McGee, the Giants will turn to Tyler Rogers, Tony Watson, and Dominic Leone to close games, writes Slusser. Rogers has played the part already this season, notching 12 saves while appearing in a league-leading 71 games for Gabe Kapler’s club. Leone has been used more as an opener of late, but he’ll be an option from the right side as well. Watson, a trade deadline acquisition this season, can close from the left side, should the match-ups lean that way.

McGee’s roster spot went to Jay Jackson, who was recalled today from Triple-A. Jackson has spent a decent chunk of time on the active roster and begun to earn Kapler’s trust at times. The 33-year-old has pitched in 22 games for a 3.95 ERA across 20 2/3 innings. Given that Jackson had totaled just 34 2/3 innings in the Majors prior to this season, he’s been a pleasant surprise in limited action for the Giants.

Giants Activate Wilmer Flores, Austin Slater

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The Giants have activated Wilmer Flores and Austin Slater from the injured list, and both players are in today’s starting lineup against the Cubs.  Right-hander John Brebbia and left-hander Caleb Baragar were optioned to Triple-A to create roster room.

Slater is back after spending a week on the concussion-related IL.  Back on September 4, the outfielder was concussed after crashing into the wall while trying to catch a Trea Turner home run.  Fortunately, Slater is back in pretty short order, and he’ll resume his part-time role on San Francisco’s depth chart.  Slater has hit .227/.313/.395 over 288 total plate appearances this season, with much of that damage coming against southpaws — Slater has a .263/.364/.480 slash line and eight home runs in 176 PA against left-handed pitching.

Flores also has a well-earned reputation as a lefty-masher, though he has a comparatively modest .273/.316/.438 slash line in 136 PA against southpaws this year.  Between that production and similar numbers against righties, Flores is batting .249/.319/.438 with 17 homers in 389 total PA in 2021.

After suffering a left hamstring strain on September 2, Flores is back after missing only the minimum 10 days, beating manager Gabe Kapler’s initial expectation that Flores would be out “a couple of weeks.”  Hamstring injuries have been a persistent issue for Flores for much of the year, and he also missed 10 days with a right hamstring strain in May.

Giants Outright Jake Jewell

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The Giants announced that right-hander Jake Jewell has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A.  Jewell’s presence on the waiver wire wasn’t publicly known, though this marks the third time Jewell has been on waivers this season, and the first time the 28-year-old hasn’t changed teams.

Jewell came to the Giants via a waiver claim from the Dodgers earlier this week, and Los Angeles also claimed Jewell when the Cubs designated him for assignment in late August.  The righty has yet to see any big league action for either of the two NL West powers, as his 2021 statline remains 10 innings pitched (with a 9.90 ERA) for Chicago.

This also marks the second time the Giants have themselves outrighted Jewell off their 40-man roster.  San Francisco previously claimed Jewell off waivers from the Angels back in January 2020 and then outrighted him later that month.  Jewell ended up not seeing any action at all in 2020 thanks to the canceled minor league season, as the Giants never called him up to their MLB roster.

Originally drafted by the Angels back in the fifth round of the 2014 draft, Jewell had a 6.99 ERA over 28 1/3 frames for the Angels in 2018-19.  The righty has a 4.78 ERA over 542 career innings in the minors, but a 3.88 ERA with a 24.8% strikeout rate over 97 1/3 Triple-A innings.  Jewell’s strikeout rate has been on the rise since becoming a full-time reliever during the 2018 season.

The Giants’ Breakout Young Starter

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Much has been made of the uncertainty in the Giants’ rotation beyond this season. Kevin Gausman, Anthony DeSclafani, Alex Wood and Johnny Cueto (whose club option is likely to be bought out) are all in line to hit free agency. The San Francisco front office will have their work cut out for them in reconstructing a starting staff, but they do have one long-term building block under control: Logan Webb.

Webb hasn’t gotten as much fanfare as he deserves, probably a byproduct of the numerous bounce-back and breakout seasons up and down the San Francisco roster. His volume has been held in check by a couple of mid-season stints on the injured list due to shoulder troubles. But when Webb has been healthy enough to take the ball — as he is at the moment — he’s been incredible.

The right-hander has been one of the league’s most successful at keeping runs off the board. Webb owns a 2.56 ERA over 112 1/3 frames, the eighth-lowest mark among pitchers with 100+ innings pitched. And he’s unanimously posted strong peripherals. Webb has struck out 27% of batters faced, a mark that’s more than four percentage points better than the 22.7% average for starters. That’s backed up by strong rates of swinging strikes (12.3%) and called strikes (18.8%), both of which are more than a point above average. Webb has always had solid control, and his 6.7% walk percentage this season is lower than the league-wide mark.

While Webb has been at least solid across the board, he’s been truly excellent at keeping the ball on the ground. His 60.8% grounder rate is second-highest (trailing only Framber Valdez) among that same group of starters. Webb has leaned more heavily on his sinker, one of the lower-spinning fastballs in the game, this season. Unlike with four-seamers, the lack of spin is a feature for the sinker. Lower spin makes it less resistant to gravity, generally enabling pitchers to get more downhill action on the offering. Unsurprisingly, his sinker has been one of the best ground-ball pitches in the game.

Webb’s wide array of abilities makes for a rare skillset. Only 17 of the 103 pitchers with 100+ innings have posted better than average strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates. That’s not a unanimously great group — Adbert Alzolay and JT Brubaker haven’t had much success, for instance — but it’s certainly a positive indicator. 13 of those 17 hurlers have an ERA of 3.76 or lower, with five posting a sub-3.00 mark.

Webb has been good since the start of the season, but he’s really turned things on of late. Going back to the All-Star Break, he has an MLB-best 1.64 ERA in ten starts with high-end strikeout and walk rates. He’s benefitted from some batted ball and strand luck, but fielding independent pitching metrics still suggest Webb has been highly impressive. Only Gerrit Cole and Max Scherzer have a SIERA better than Webb’s 3.00 since the Break, and his full-season mark of 3.18 is among the league’s ten best.

While the Giants’ front office will have plenty of decisions to make this offseason, they can at least pencil Webb in at or near the top of the 2022 rotation. The 24-year-old still has four more seasons of team control, and he won’t reach arbitration eligibility until the conclusion of next season. They could contemplate a long-term extension, but there’s still not yet a ton of urgency on that front.

One more pressing call that could be on the table is whether Webb’s breakout season has vaulted him to the top of this year’s rotation. San Francisco holds a one-game lead over the Dodgers in the NL West race after taking two of three from Los Angeles over the weekend. While they’re obviously hoping to hang onto that lead and avoid the Wild Card Game, there’s still a real chance they wind up in a one-game playoff next month.

If that ultimately turns out to be the case, Giants’ brass would face a tough choice deciding to whom to give the ball. Opening Day starter Gausman has been excellent going back two years and might be the top starting pitcher to hit the free agent market this offseason. But Webb has arguably been even better than Gausman this year. They’re essentially tied in ERA. Gausman has a slight edge in punchouts but Webb’s been much better at racking up grounders. Webb has the edge in SIERA and the two have nearly identical marks in FIP (2.89 for Gausman, 2.90 for Webb).

That would be a moot point if the Giants hold onto the division. Even if they do wind up in the Wild Card, having to make that kind of difficult decision is a good “problem” to have. That’s a testimony to Webb’s fantastic campaign, one which makes him the long-term anchor of a Giants’ rotation that could see plenty of upheaval elsewhere a few months from now.

Injury Notes: Rodon, Blue Jays, Slater, Gsellman, Cardinals

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The White Sox are skipping Carlos Rodon’s next turn in the rotation due to shoulder soreness, and manager Tony La Russa told reporters (including NBC Chicago’s Maddie Lee) that the team is hopeful Rodon can pitch during the upcoming September 10-12 series with the Red Sox.  That said, “when he doesn’t feel right, it’s impossible to push it,” La Russa said, noting that in the wake of Rodon’s recent injured-list stint due to shoulder fatigue, “that’s what’s concerning, that all this should add up to where right now he would be in peak form.”

Rodon missed a little over two weeks on the IL and has pitched well in two starts since returning, posting a 2.70 ERA over 10 innings.  However, the Sox were easing Rodon back into action, limiting him to 144 total pitches over the two outings.  La Russa said Jimmy Lambert would likely be called up to take Rodon’s spot in what has become an increasingly injury-riddled pitching staff — Lucas Giolito and Lance Lynn are also on the 10-day injured list.

The latest on other injury situations around baseball…

  • Cavan Biggio and Ross Stripling are slated to begin rehab assignments at the Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate, Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi writes (Twitter link).  Stripling was placed on the 10-day IL on August 11 with a left oblique strain and could be closer than Biggio to a return, as Stripling might be back when the Jays begin a series against the Orioles on Friday.  Biggio was already on a rehab assignment for a back problem when he suffered an elbow injury two weeks ago, thus setting back his progress.
  • The Giants placed outfielder Austin Slater on the seven-day concussion IL prior to tonight’s game.  Left-hander Sammy Long was also sent down to Triple-A, while righty Camilo Doval and outfielder Steven Duggar were recalled in corresponding moves.  Slater suffered his concussion while crashing into the outfield wall in Saturday’s game in an attempt to catch a Trea Turner home run.  Now in his fifth season with San Francisco, Slater is hitting .227/.313/.395 with 10 home runs over 288 plate appearances while seeing time at all three outfield positions.
  • Robert Gsellman began a rehab assignment at the Mets’ low-A affiliate today, Newsday’s Tim Healey tweets.  Gsellman has been sidelined since June 21 due to a torn lat muscle, and though he’ll need multiple rehab outings due to the long layoff, he is on pace to return to the Mets bullpen before the season is out.
  • Cardinals manager Mike Shildt told The Athletic’s Katie Woo and other reporters that Jack Flaherty will take the “huge step” of beginning to play catch within the next day or two.  Flaherty’s season seemed to be in jeopardy when he was placed on the IL on August 25 due to a shoulder strain, though there is some optimism that the right-hander may be able to return as either a reliever or as a piggyback starter.  In other Cardinals pitching news, Shildt said that Dakota Hudson will throw at least three more rehab starts as the righty continues to work his way back from Tommy John surgery.  The timing will be somewhat tight, but there is some hope that Hudson can return to a big league mound this season, which would mark a tremendous recovery considering that Hudson underwent his surgery in late September 2020.

Giants Place Alex Dickerson On 10-Day Injured List

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Alex Dickerson has been placed on the 10-day injured list, as the Giants announced that the outfielder is suffering from a right hamstring strain.  Mauricio Dubon has been called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.

This is the third time Dickerson has visited the IL this year, with slightly more than the minimum amount of time missed due to an upper back strain and a right shoulder impingement.  The Giants are surely hopeful of another brief absence since the team will want all hands on deck in the battle with the Dodgers for the NL West crown.  Considering the timing, however, anything more than a minor strain could threaten to sideline Dickerson for the remainder of the season.

These cumulative injuries could explain Dickerson’s struggles this year, after batting .286/.350/.529 with 16 homers over 360 plate appearances in 2019-20.  This year, Dickerson is hitting only .235/.303/.426 with 13 homers in 304 PA, with much less hard contact and dropoffs in both his strikeout and walk rates.  After tearing up right-handed pitching in the previous two seasons, the left-handed hitting Dickerson has managed just a .719 OPS in 278 PA against righties in 2021.

The Giants do have outfield depth to make up for Dickerson’s loss, as Kris Bryant could see more time as a corner outfielder now that Evan Longoria is back from the injured list and ready to assume third base duties.  With LaMonte Wade Jr. and Mike Yastrzemski toggling back and forth between center and right field, the Giants could also shift Wade to left field duty, or use Austin Slater or Darin Ruf.  The versatile Dubon’s return also adds a bit more infield help considering that Donovan Solano and Wilmer Flores are both still on the IL.

Injury Notes: Giolito, Longoria, Torres, Moreland, McGowin

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The White Sox placed Lucas Giolito on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to September 1, due to a left hamstring strain this afternoon. It seems the move is mostly precautionary, as manager Tony La Russa told reporters (including Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times) that Giolito is scheduled to throw a bullpen session next Wednesday. The White Sox can afford to be especially cautious with even minor injuries for their top players, as they’re coasting to a division title and hoping to get everybody right for the postseason. Giolito has a 3.69 ERA/3.68 SIERA over 158 1/3 innings this season.

Some more health situations around the league:

  • The Giants announced they’ve activated third baseman Evan Longoria from the 10-day injured list. The 35-year-old returns in time for perhaps the club’s biggest series of the year, as San Francisco is set to kick off a three-game set against the Dodgers, with whom they’re tied atop the NL West. Injuries have limited Longoria to 199 plate appearances this season, but he’s looked rejuvenated when healthy. Longoria owns a .289/.382/.526 line with ten home runs. Mauricio Dubón was optioned to clear active roster space.
  • The Yankees activated shortstop Gleyber Torres from the 10-day injured list before this evening’s game with the Orioles. The 24-year-old returns after a three-week absence due to a thumb sprain. Torres got off to a slow start but looked like he’d begun to turn a corner offensively before going down. He has a .253/.328/.351 mark across 407 plate appearances altogether. New York optioned outfielder Estevan Florial in a corresponding move.
  • Athletics designated hitter/first baseman Mitch Moreland landed on the 10-day injured list with left wrist tendinitis earlier this week. Manager Bob Melvin told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle) that Moreland’s wrist will be in a splint “for at least a few weeks.” With a month remaining in the regular season, that would seemingly put Moreland’s season in jeopardy — at least barring an A’s postseason run. Moreland has struggled to a .227/.286/.415 line across 252 plate appearances this season, a disappointing follow-up to a strong 2020 campaign split between the Red Sox and Padres.
  • The Nationals placed reliever Kyle McGowin on the 10-day injured list this afternoon. The right-hander has a UCL sprain in his throwing elbow and will see a specialist to determine his course of treatment, relays Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com. Any injury to a pitcher’s UCL raises the specter of a potential Tommy John surgery, although there’s no indication McGowin is facing any sort of procedure just yet. The 29-year-old has made 30 relief appearances for the Nats this season, working to a 4.20 ERA/3.85 SIERA.

Injured List Placements: Flores, Anderson, Martin

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The latest on some notable players heading to the 10-day injured list…

  • The Giants have placed Wilmer Flores on the 10-day injured list due to a left hamstring strain, as Mauricio Dubon was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.  Flores had a 10-day minimum absence due to a strain in his other hamstring in May, and Giants manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle) that the infielder “has been wrestling with hamstring issues for most of the season,” and he will now miss “a couple of weeks” with his latest injury.  Flores has hit .249/.319/.438 with 17 home runs over 389 plate appearances this season, and the known lefty-masher has had uncharacteristically even splits against both left-handed and right-handed pitching.  San Francisco’s infield depth will be tested yet again, as Flores joins Donovan Solano and Evan Longoria on the IL, and Tommy La Stella is day-to-day with tightness in his side.
  • The Brewers placed Brett Anderson on the 10-day IL due to a left shoulder contusion.  Anderson departed last night’s start after two innings after being hit in the shoulder by a Brandon Crawford line drive, though it appears as though the left-hander didn’t suffer any structural damage.  This is Anderson’s third IL visit of the season, after two relatively brief absences due to a right knee contusion and a right hamstring strain.  Through 88 1/3 innings this season, Anderson has a 4.18 ERA on the strength of a 59.5% grounder rate and an above-average 6.9% walk rate, despite a lot of blue ink on his Statcast numbers.  Milwaukee at least has a ready-made replacement for Anderson, as Freddy Peralta is expected to be activated from the injured list to start tomorrow’s game against the Cardinals
  • The Braves placed right-hander Chris Martin on the 10-day IL due to inflammation in his throwing elbow.  Southpaw Sean Newcomb was recalled from Triple-A to take Martin’s spot on the active roster.  In a season already shortened by a month-long injured list trip due to right shoulder inflammation, Martin has a 4.17 ERA over 36 2/3 innings out of Atlanta’s bullpen.  That ERA has been inflated by four runs allowed over his last four appearances, which could be due to this elbow issue.  For the season as a whole, however, Martin’s strikeout and hard-hit ball rates are each considerably down from his 2020 statistics.

Every Team’s Initial September Callups

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The limit on active roster players expanded from 26 to 28 today, as the calendar flipped to September. Every team announced at least two additions to the big league club (some teams made three or more due to injured list placements). Here’s a recap of today’s spate of transactions:

Giants Place Alex Wood On COVID-19 Injured List

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AUGUST 31: Cueto has been activated from the IL to start this evening’s game against Milwaukee, the team announced. Quintana has also been activated after reporting to the club, with Vosler and Brebbia optioned in corresponding moves.

AUGUST 30: The Giants announced they’ve placed starting pitchers Alex Wood and Johnny Cueto on the COVID-19 injured list. Infielder Jason Vosler and reliever John Brebbia have been recalled from Triple-A Sacramento to take their places on the active roster.

Wood has tested positive for COVID-19, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). Cueto has not tested positive, but he’s feeling virus-like symptoms. The Giants will conduct an impromptu bullpen game tonight against the Brewers in place of Cueto, who had been scheduled to take the ball. The team remains hopeful Cueto could be back as soon as tomorrow.

Regardless of Cueto’s status, the Giants will be without Wood for the near future. San Francisco’s rotation depth is one of the team’s few question marks, particularly after Tyler Beede recently suffered a serious back injury in Triple-A. The Giants’ top five starters of Wood, Cueto, Kevin Gausman, Anthony DeSclafani and Logan Webb has remained remarkably healthy for much of the season. Sammy Long and the since-released Aaron Sanchez are the only other pitchers to log at least ten innings out of the San Francisco rotation.

Long could be an option to shoulder a heavier workload over the coming days, and San Francisco did just add José Quintana off waivers from the Angels. Matt Shoemaker is on hand as a potential option in Sacramento, but he’s struggled since signing a minor league deal earlier this month. San Francisco can ill-afford any sort of letup over the final few weeks of the season. While the league-best Giants are a lock to make the playoffs, they hold just a two and a half game lead over the Dodgers in the National League West.

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