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Hello and happy Tuesday.
On Monday, the San Francisco Giants were hit with some rough pitcher news, as Rule 5 selection Dedniel Nuñez suffered a sprained UCL, which could lead to Tommy John surgery. That understandably got the bulk of the attention, but there was more bad pitcher news from the team: starting pitcher Alex Wood is going to visit a specialist due to an issue with his back, which is suffering stiffness.
#SFGiants Rule 5 pick Dedniel Núñez has a UCL sprain in his right elbow. He'll get a second opinion.
— Kerry Crowley (@KO_Crowley) March 15, 2021
Alex Wood is seeing a spine specialist for his stiff back.
Insert all of your stiff wood jokes here. Go ahead. Get them out of your system. You done? No, not yet? OK, I’ll give you a few more minutes. Ready now? OK, let’s move on.
Wood has struggled with injuries quite a bit in his career, and has pitched fewer than 50 innings over the last two seasons. The Giants feel like they have a pretty good pitcher if he can stay healthy, but that’s a big if, and it seems like Wood will likely be sidelined when the season begins on April 1.
On the bright side, if Wood has to start the season on the Injured List, it opens the door for Logan Webb, who has been absolutely lights out during Spring Training. The Giants seem fine with that scenario, as manager Gabe Kapler told reporters “I think we have Gausman, Cueto, DeSclafani, Sanchez and Webb as five great rotation options and we also have some off days early on and there are lots of ways to be creative at this point.”
Old, random MCC article for you to read
The Dodgers are going to win the pennant, you’ll have to root for the Yankees, and food will never taste the same again (Oct. 18, 2017 — Grant Brisbee)
Giants links
- Roger Munter on changes in baseball rules and entertainment (There R Giants)
- Grant Brisbee on Monday’s Giants cuts (The Athletic, subscription required)
- Alex Pavlovic examines the roster battles after the first round of cuts (NBC Sports Bay Area)
- Kerry Crowley recaps Monday, including how Mauricio Dubón has one of the weirdest jobs in baseball (Mercury News)
- John Shea has Monday observations, including on the injured pitchers (SF Chronicle)
- Mark W. Sanchez on how Mauricio Dubón is a different player at the plate this year (KNBR)
- Alex Pavlovic on Gabe Kapler’s explanation for optioning Joey Bart and Jaylin Davis but not Heliot Ramos (NBC Sports Bay Area)
- Andrew Baggarly on how a line drive to the head changed Joe Martinez’s life for the better (The Athletic, subscription required)
How many days until Opening Day?
There are 16 days until Opening Day.
I hope you all have a really great Tuesday.