2 young pitchers sidelined before camp begins
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. >> The plan for Reggie Crawford, the two-way player the Giants selected with the first pick of the 2022 draft, was to set aside the bat and focus the bulk of his work this spring on his pitching development.
Crawford, however, was stalled before spring began.
Warming up for a recent bullpen session, the 22-year-old left-hander felt discomfort in his throwing shoulder and was shut down.
He was diagnosed with a strained lat and won't throw again until mid-March, the club said, losing more than half of his first big-league spring training.
“It's unfortunate it happened before we even started up,” manager Bob Melvin said. “He was playing catch before he was going to throw his bullpen. This time of year we have to be pretty conservative, too.”
While Crawford, who hasn't played above SingleA, wasn't being evaluated for the Opening Day roster, the Giants lost the opportunity to see another pitcher who could help them this season.
Right-hander Kai-Wei Teng will be shut down for the next two to three weeks, according to the club, after straining his oblique during a pre-spring bullpen. Teng, 25, went 7-8 with a 4.42 ERA in 28 starts last season between DoubleA Richmond and Triple-A Sacramento.
“(Crawford) and Teng both were guys we wanted to get a look at here. But you're going to go through injuries,” Melvin said. “Both really talented guys. We'll give them the proper amount of rest and get them back going again.”
With Alex Cobb (hip) and Robbie Ray (elbow) out to begin the season, the Giants will be heavily reliant on the three young arms in their rotation — Kyle Harrison, 22; Keaton Winn, 25; and Tristan Beck, 26 — but this spring it presents the opportunity for the next crop of young pitchers to get valuable reps, too.
The Giants have 18 40man pitchers and 15 nonroster arms in camp, meaning Mason Black, Carson Whisenhunt and Hayden Birdsong should all get into early games, potentially even making starts against other teams' major-league regulars.
“When you have talent and they're all in position now where you look at the numbers here, we don't have a ton of (pitchers) here, which is good,” Melvin said. “It gives all these younger guys (a chance) to get looks in games early on too. I think it's refreshing to lean on these guys and see what they have and then obviously we Cobb and Ray coming a little bit later, we feel there's some reinforcements coming.”
As for the future rotation reinforcements, Cobb is further along than Ray in their respective recoveries from surgeries.
In fact, it sounds as though Cobb will avoid the 60-day injured list entirely, which would have ruled him out until the end of May.
“I personally would love to be close to facing a batter by the end of camp,” Cobb said. “I think that could be … just a good goal to personally set. Obviously that has to be approved by a lot of different people. I would love to start thinking about facing competition by the end of camp.”
Even Ray, approximately 10 months removed from elbow reconstruction, Melvin was hesitant to commit to placing on the 60-day. Wednesday marked the first day players were eligible to be transferred to the list, which removes them from the 40-man roster, potentially freeing up spots for future additions.
Both pitchers were scheduled to throw again Wednesday, part of their three-times-per-week throwing program.
“Ray is going to be a while,” Melvin said. “Robbie's going to be farther out than Cobb. I don't want to put a timetable on Cobb, but man, he's hitting all his markers and is itching to get out there and get back sooner rather than later.”
Notable
• After offseason elbow surgery, OF Austin Slater has no restrictions in the batter's box and is nearing the end of his throwing program, progressing to throwing from 135 feet.
• LHP Thomas Szapucki, who underwent thoracic outlet surgery in May, will not participate in the first week of camp because of left shoulder soreness.