Leading bullpen candidate out for opener

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. >> And

then there were two.

Consider Juan Sánchez, 23, and Amir Garrett, a seven-year veteran, the finalists for one of the last remaining spots in the Giants bullpen. The two nonroster pitchers are the last lefties standing in the competition to join Taylor Rogers in the Opening Day relief corps.

One of their primary competitors, Ethan Small, won't pitch again this spring.

An MRI revealed that Small, 27, suffered a moderate strain in his right oblique, the team announced Friday. He will be shut down for “several weeks” and will be examined by Dr. Ken Akizuki, the team's head physician, today.

“Nothing's a given, but it's a big blow for him and certainly our depth,” manager Bob Melvin said. “It's gonna be a while, unfortunately.”

Small was the only lefthanded reliever remaining in camp who was already on the 40-man roster. Small, acquired from the Brewers for cash considerations a week before pitchers and catchers reported, had gotten off to a strong start, touching 95 mph and striking out six batters over his first two appearances while allowing one run.

In his last outing, Small was the biggest victim in Wednesday's 19- 11 slugfest loss to the Reds, surrendering a pair of home runs and five runs total.

“He said later on that maybe he was a little sore,” Melvin said. “We didn't hear that before. But it certainly popped up last time out.”

The other southpaw already on the 40- man, Erik Miller, was optioned to the minors earlier this week.

However, Melvin said, that didn't rule him out from making the major league roster.

Garrett, 31, has a 14.73 ERA in four appearances this spring, allowing a run on a walk and two hits preceding Small in his last outing.

In the same game, Sánchez pitched a scoreless ninth inning, lowering his ERA to 1.50 in five Cactus League appearances, with eight strikeouts to no walks.