Cueto’s elbow injury not expected to require surgery
PHILADELPHIA >> Ace Madison Bumgarner will miss another month and No. 2 starter Johnny Cueto is out for at least six-to-eight weeks, but concerns over the Giants’ pitching staff don’t stop there.
The third fixture in the team’s rotation, Jeff Samardzija, served up a pair of 420-foot-plus home runs Monday in an 11-0 blowout loss to the Phillies that ended the Giants’ win streak at four games.
After spending the first three weeks of the season on the disabled list, Samardzija has allowed 13 earned runs over his past three outings and failed to throw more than five innings in any of his four starts this year.
Hours before Samardzija fell into a 5-0 hole, the Giants received an official word on Cueto’s elbow injury which landed him on the 10-day disabled list last week. The right-hander visited orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews in Pensacola, Florida and was diagnosed with a sprained right elbow.
The Giants feared Cueto may have a torn UCL which would have required Tommy John surgery, so manager Bruce Bochy described the diagnosis as “great news.” Cueto’s rehab process is expected to take up to two months, but elbow injuries are unpredictable and the Giants should not count on a seamless recovery.
“We’ve been hit as hard as anybody,” Bochy said. “Our top two guys, your closer, your left fielder, your second baseman. It’s just something we’re going to have to deal with.”
With Bumgarner, Cueto and closer Mark Melancon on the disabled list, Samardzija is the highest-paid pitcher on the Giants’ 25-man roster and until Monday, his fastball velocity was lacking.
Though Samardzija routinely hit 95 and 96 miles
per hour for the first time this season, he still struggled with command and walked the first two batters of Monday’s game.
“He was back to having his normal stuff, velo and everything,” Bochy said. “He’s just got to get his command now. He was pitching without that. He was up a little bit and missing spots.”
Samardzija was up when he served up a 424-foot home run to Odubel Herrera in the bottom of the first, and up again when César Hernández crushed a 1-1 slider into the second deck of the right field bleachers at Citizens Bank Park in the fourth.
“I’ve got to get that slider right, I don’t think there’s any doubt that pitch is a big pitch for me,” Samardzija said. “It has been in my career to pitch that in games and get quick outs and whatever it may be, it’s kind of a utility pitch for me.”
The manager and starting pitcher were encouraged by the return of Samardzija’s fastball velocity, especially after the righthander spent the first three weeks of the season nursing a strained right pectoral muscle that kept him on the disabled list.
Samardzija was rushed back into action after just one 61-pitch rehab start due to the dearth of reliable arms at the Giants’ disposal, and hasn’t thrown high-intensity bullpens in between outings for precautionary reasons.
Now that Samardzija’s velocity is back, the right-hander expects to have more opportunities to refine his mechanics and tune up his off-speed pitches.
“We’ve been limited a little bit with how much we can practice with the way things have been going,” Samardzija said. “But feeling good and having the velo back will allow us to get back on schedule with what we’re doing and get out there and figure it out.”
With Samardzija planning to ramp up his activity between starts, Cueto will give his arm a rest and won’t pick up a baseball for the next few weeks.
Bochy said Cueto was “ecstatic” after the diagnosis knowing that it’s possible a more severe injury could have required immediate surgery that would have forced him to miss the rest of this season and at least half of next year.
If Cueto’s rehab doesn’t alleviate the pain, surgery will remain an option.
Over the next month, the Giants will test their organizational depth as both Andrew Suárez and Derek Holland are expected to remain in the team’s rotation.
• Rookie D.J. Snelten pitched in relief of Samardzija on Monday and also allowed two home runs in a multi-inning effort. The Giants have typically asked young relievers to “wear it” in blowout losses this season and eat innings before being optioned back to the Minor Leagues, but Snelten could remain on the roster due to a slew of injuries ravaging their pitching depth.
Four other pitchers on the 40-man roster — Roberto Gomez, Steven Okert, Tyler Herb and Josh Osich — are all sidelined with injuries while a healthy Derek Law is struggling with command issues at Triple-A.