Matt Cain doesn't need Tommy John surgery

A pitcher going to see Dr. James Andrews is bad news. It's like taking a car with 100,000 miles on it into the shop for a clunking noise. It's always the transmission. It will never not be the transmission. You're screwed because transmissions are expensive.

Sometimes, though, it's just a pile of plastic measuring cups under the hood. From Andrew Baggarly:

Cain’s ulnar collateral ligament checked out fine. He does not require a Tommy John procedure, nor did anyone on the Giants staff believe that to be the case when they sent him to Dr. Andrews.

Well, if you didn't want us to think to think the worst, why not send him to Dr. Sam Andrews? Jeez.

Now the Giants and Cain are debating whether or not to have season-ending surgery to clean out the loose bodies in his elbow. Considering that he wasn't so hot with the bodies in there, I'm not sure how helpful he'll be gutting this one out. With Peavy on the roster, the Giants don't need 2014 Cain back. They need 2012 Cain back. If they can't get that through rest, what's the point?

Here's guessing that Cain's done for the season, but he's not done for next season. It's not good news, but it could have been a heckuva lot worse.