Giants beat: Starting pitcher Samardzija has yet another shoulder setback.
One of the boxes the Giants hoped to check off in a lameduck September was getting Jeff Samardzija on the mound for a few starts, his right shoulder healed, to propel him into the offseason and 2019. That increasingly looks unlikely.
Samardzija was meeting with team doctors Friday to plot a new course after the righthander again felt pain during an otherwise successful fourinning rehab start for Double-A Richmond, Va., on Wednesday.
“There is a little concern there, to be honest,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “There’s some soreness. He’s not real close.”
This marks another setback in a ruined third season in San Francisco for Samardzija. He began the year on the disabled list with a strained pectoral muscle and is serving his second additional DL stint with shoulder soreness. He has made 10 starts this year for the Giants, most recently July 14 in Oakland, with a 6.25 ERA.
The Giants have said they do not envision a surgical solution for Samardzija, which Bochy reiterated Friday.
“I haven’t heard that,” he said. “The diagnostic tests haven’t shown anything needing surgery.”
Holland apology: Pitcher Derek Holland met with reporters and offered a second apology upon the team’s return from New York for his actions during an appearance with Giants massage therapist Haro Ogawa on the MLB Network program “Intentional Talk” on Wednesday.
As part of what was meant to be a funny dialog with Ogawa, Holland spoke in a caricatured Asian voice, which some viewers found offensive.
Holland meant it as a humorous exchange with Ogawa, a friend, but said he understood why it came off differently.
“No matter how you look at it, it may be funny to us, or anybody who got a laugh out of it, but it’s not funny to everybody else,” Holland said. “We’re not trying to offend anybody. But that is what happened. With that being said, we shouldn’t have done that to begin with.
“We screwed up the whole situation. Our entertainment was somebody else’s (humiliation). It’s not good.”
Holland faces no discipline from the league, which was satisfied with the Giants’ statement acknowledging Holland’s insensitivity and Holland’s apology Thursday in New York. The Giants on Friday still were discussing internal options for Holland to make amends.
Roster moves: The Giants optioned pitcher Casey Kelly to Triple-A Sacramento to clear a 25-man spot for Dereck Rodriguez, who had been on the DL.