Matt Cain doesn't need Tommy John surgery

Matt Cain will not make his first scheduled start of 2015 because of arm issues, but the news could have been worse. It's not a torn ligament but a flexor tendon strain. The prescription is some DL time and rest. Dr. James Andrews can stay in his blackened castle built atop piles of decaying ligaments. For now.

With Jake Peavy missing a start, the Giants can either bring Yusmeiro Petit into the rotation or call up a starter to make a start or two. Possibilities from the 40-man roster include Chris Heston and Joan Gregorio, with the latter having never pitched above Class-A. So it's Heston or Petit, then.

I don't understand why it just wouldn't be Petit -- he's might be the second-best starter on the staff, and that's not hyperbole -- but I've gotten soft and paunchy when it comes to the Giants and their mysterious ways. Eh, they probably have their reasons, said the formerly cynical blogger who quietly gave up years ago.

We've had this "phew, it's not Tommy John" feeling before, so don't get too cocky. Still, there was forearm tightness and the story ended with the pitcher likely being out for two weeks. That's getting off relatively easy.