⏩ Giants beat: Sanchez likely to return Tuesday — in bullpen.
Aaron Sanchez had one of the better Aprils in the Giants’ rotation, making five starts and not allowing more than two runs in any of them.
In his first outing in May, he allowed seven hits, a walk and four runs in four innings and hasn’t been back since, sidelined first by a biceps strain and then blister issues.
What will the Giants do with the righthander, who signed a oneyear, $4 million deal at the start of the spring? He’s unlikely to rejoin the rotation immediately, judging from manager Gabe Kapler’s comments before Sunday’s game.
“I feel good about our rotation and so we don’t really have a clear spot for Aaron to slide into,” Kapler said, adding that for Sanchez, “the bullpen is a fair consideration and we just have to see how we look coming out of this offday.”
Sanchez, a 2016 AllStar with Toronto, appears ticketed for relief, then, when he comes off the injured list Tuesday. He has worked in relief before, but not since making 30 bullpen appearances with Toronto in 2015.
Of course, Sanchez might not love this development much: He signed with the Giants to start, like several others seeing that San Francisco is a good destination for starting pitchers to regain their form. But he didn’t wow during his rehab assignment at TripleA Sacramento, putting up a 7.79 ERA in six outings. He allowed five runs and eight hits in 51⁄3 innings in his most recent outing Thursday.
The Giants’ bullpen has been one of the best in the league, trailing only San Diego in ERA, but Sanchez could fill a longrelief role and allow the team to retain some of its starting pitching depth.
Briefly: Shortstop Brandon Crawford (oblique) came out of his baseball activity Saturday well and is on track to come off the injured list this week. He’s eligible to do so
Thursday. “We’re optimistic it will be on the front end,” Kapler said . ... First baseman Brandon Belt (knee) continued his running progression. ... Outfielder Jaylin Davis (hamstring) started a rehab assignment with Sacramento.