SF Giants latest 10-player injury update includes details on Mike Yastrzemski, Johnny Cueto
It’s hard to know what’s more crowded these days, the bleacher seats at Oracle Park or the training room next to the Giants’ home clubhouse.
As the club opens a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies on Monday, manager Gabe Kapler provided an injury update on 10 players including outfielder Mike Yastrzemski and starting pitcher Johnny Cueto.
Yastrzemski left Sunday’s 4-3 win over the Marlins with left oblique tightness and an MRI scan revealed a mild strain. Kapler said the club is hopeful one of its top power threats will be able to avoid a stint on the injured list, but said the medical staff will continue evaluating him.
“I have optimism that Yaz is not going to be (out) more than five or six days necessarily,” Kapler said. “That could change, but that’s how I feel about it.”
Yastrzemski was off to a slow start this season, but has picked up his performance at the plate in recent days and now has 11 extra-base hits and a .772 OPS in 22 games.
Infielder Wilmer Flores also left Sunday’s game because he was feeling “under the weather,” according to the team, but is in Monday’s starting lineup. Kapler said Flores is “back to normal” after receiving an IV on Sunday.
Flores is joined in the starting lineup by Evan Longoria, who hasn’t started since Thursday due to mild left hamstring tightness. The Giants were pleased Longoria was able to avoid a trip to the injured list, but they’ll continue to monitor how he’s feeling.
Shortstop Brandon Crawford hasn’t been placed on the injured list, either, but he’s still dealing with rib cage tightness that will keep him out of the starting lineup for the third consecutive game on Monday. With Crawford out, the Giants are using Mauricio Dubón at shortstop and a relatively weak outfield defense that features Alex Dickerson in left field, Austin Slater in center field and Darin Ruf in right field.
Kapler didn’t provide any new details on Donovan Solano, the only Giants infielder who is on the 10-day injured list, but the team doesn’t anticipate his moderate right calf strain will allow Solano to rejoin the lineup anytime soon. Outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr., who is on the 10-day injured list with an oblique strain, participated in live batting practice at Oracle Park Monday and will need at least one more look in that type of a setting before he begins playing games again.
Aside from the growing group of position players who are dealing with nagging injuries, the Giants also have several pitchers who are receiving attention from the training staff.
Starter Johnny Cueto has missed his last two turns through the rotation due to a Grade 1 lat strain that landed him on the 10-day injured list. Kapler said Monday the club is targeting a return for Cueto as soon as May 9 as it’s possible he’ll be ready to face the Padres or the Rangers, who are in town for a two-game set May 10-11.
Another starter, Tyler Beede, is on the 60-day injured list and isn’t eligible to return until June, but he threw his first live batting practice Monday since undergoing Tommy John surgery in March, 2020 and impressed Kapler.
“It went great, the velocity was there, he threw his curveball and changeup for strikes and it was definitely encouraging to see a post-Tommy John surgery live BP go so smoothly,” Kapler said. “He came out feeling great so that was a plus.”
Reliever John Brebbia, who is also on the 60-day injured list, continued to progress in his recovery from a June, 2020 Tommy John surgery, but he’s not yet throwing live batting practice. While Beede could be ready to aid the Giants out of their rotation by early June, Brebbia may not be ready to help the bullpen until July.
Kapler said another right-handed reliever, Reyes Moronta, could be activated from the 10-day injured list when the team opens a road series in Colorado on May 3. Moronta, who is dealing with a right flexor strain, will throw a live batting practice on Tuesday.