Melancon on schedule
Mark Melancon plans to start throwing Dec. 15, around the time he usually begins his offseason throwing program, putting him on pace to be ready for spring training.
“I don’t have to push, given it’s the offseason,” Melancon said Tuesday, a week removed from surgery to relieve compression in his forearm by cutting the fascia around his pronator muscle. “I’m going to take the conservative pace, 2½ to three months. Basically I’m on schedule to do everything I normally would with maybe a little delay in workouts for a couple of weeks.”
The Giants, who signed Melancon for four years and $62 million, expect him to be recovered well before spring training, and Melancon expects his rare condition, called pronator syndrome, which he has experienced on and off since 2012, to be gone.
“Going in, they were 100 percent confident that was the right approach, but you never know,” Melancon said. “After the surgery, they were even more confident that was the problem. I was happy to hear that.”
Dr. Steven Shin performed the surgery in Los Angeles, and Giants trainer Dave Groeschner said Melancon will begin rehab in the next week and go home after the season to continue therapy. He’ll get frequent visits from the training staff.
“We expect him to start his normal throwing program around mid-December,” Groeschner said. “So as far as his throwing, it should be a normal offseason, and that’s what we wanted.”
Manager Bruce Bochy said Melancon will be “full bore by spring training’’ and return to the closer’s role. Sam Dyson has filled in.
“When we acquired Mark, we got him to close games,” Bochy said. “That’s why we signed him to the contract that we did. Sure, Sam’s done a great job, and this is a workable situation. You can’t have enough good arms.” Smith throwing: Six months after his spring training Tommy John surgery, lefty Will Smith has started to throw. “Will’s a huge part of this bullpen,” Bochy said. “We had our ups and downs on the left side. He’s going to help stabilize this ’pen when we get him back.”