Giants left-hander Robbie Ray exited his begin as we speak within the fourth inning with left hamstring tightness. He was going through his former group, the Mariners, and pitching in Seattle for the primary time since he suffered a season-ending harm throughout his debut begin of the 2023 marketing campaign. This time, the 2021 AL Cy Younger winner is hoping the harm won’t mark the top of his season.
The 32-year-old will go for an MRI tomorrow, studies Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Having by no means handled hamstring accidents up to now, he was unable to supply a lot perception into his timeline. Nonetheless, he expressed optimism that he wouldn’t be out for too lengthy. In accordance with Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic, Ray described the harm as “minor” and advised he left the sport earlier than it grew to become “something vital.” The southpaw has tried to “push by means of accidents up to now” and didn’t wish to make the identical mistake this time round.
Whereas Ray himself mentioned it’s too early to know if he’ll require a visit to the injured checklist (per Maria Guardado of MLB.com), supervisor Bob Melvin implied that Ray may miss time even when the problem seems to be gentle. “These issues don’t sometimes take a few days [to heal],” the skipper defined.
Ray has made seven begins for the Giants this yr since coming off the injured checklist on the finish of July. Together with his outing this afternoon, he has pitched 30 2/3 innings with a 4.70 ERA and three.52 SIERA. San Francisco is 4-3 in his begins. Whereas he hasn’t all the time regarded his finest, he’ll nonetheless be tough for the Giants to interchange.
If Ray solely must miss a single begin, Melvin may get by counting on bulk relievers like Sean Hjelle and Spencer Bivens to cowl. Hjelle took over for Ray this afternoon and tossed 2 2/3 innings. He has thrown a minimum of two frames in 16 of his 45 appearances this yr; his longest outing was 3 1/3 towards the Braves earlier this month. Bivens made one begin earlier this yr, and he has gone a minimum of two innings in six of his 15 reduction appearances.
In the meantime, if Ray winds up on the IL, the Giants may recall rookie right-hander Mason Black, who made 4 appearances (three begins) for the large league membership again in Might. Sadly for Black, his first few MLB begins didn’t precisely go in accordance with plan; the 24-year-old gave up 14 runs in 14 1/3 innings throughout that transient cup of espresso. He additionally has a 4.59 ERA and 5.21 FIP in 20 begins this yr at Triple-A. Nonetheless, Black is a stay arm on the 40-man roster with expertise beginning within the majors.
Proper-hander Tristan Beck is one other choice to fill in for Ray, however it’s unclear what number of extra rehab outings he wants earlier than he’s able to return to the Giants; the 28-year-old has been on the 60-day IL all season after present process surgical procedure to take away an aneurysm from his arm. What’s extra, Beck has restricted expertise beginning on the MLB degree, and he has given up 13 runs (11 earned) over 10 2/3 rehab innings at Triple-A. All this to say, it’s vital for the Giants that Ray will get again on the mound as shortly as doable. Sitting 5 video games again within the NL Wild Card race, their postseason hopes are already dwindling. Shedding Ray for a chronic interval may very well be the ultimate nail of their proverbial coffin.