SAN FRANCISCO – Pitcher Kurt Casali has been described as a “god” for a decreasing rotation it is expected to lose a significant portion of the time.
The Giants placed Jacob Junis on a 15-day injured list after an MRI revealed a grade 2 strain in his left hamstring, joining Alex Cobb and Anthony Descalafny as the third member of San Francisco’s rotation on the shelf .
“It’s definitely disappointing,” said Junis, who had a rotation-best 2.61 ERA in seven since coming from Triple-A Sacramento. “Things like this happen. You really can’t control it. …Hopefully, going forward we can get healthy and stay healthy. It’s going to be important to us.”
A grade 2 strain indicates that Junis has a partial tear in his hamstrings and can mean an absence of more than a month. Junis said he tore his hamstring once earlier in 2013, and that was “very bad.”
In the same move, the Giants called out outfield prospect Heliot Ramos, inserting him in the middle of their order – batting third – against Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw.
Junis faced tension on his 92nd and final pitch against the Dodgers on Friday night. He restricted the dangerous Los Angeles lineup to two runs and was dismissed in five innings of five overs.
“To pitch well against a team like this and for it to happen at the very back end of the outing, it’s very disappointing,” Junis said Friday night.
On a 2-1 pitch to first batsman Max Munsi of the sixth inning, Junis’ left leg appeared to be out during his delivery and he fell to the ground. Gabe Kapler, a coach and manager, made a way for Junis, and he was eventually driven off the field under his own power.
“We expected it not to be a hamstring injury that was particularly mild,” Kapler said.
Junis stepped into Desklafany’s rotation slot and exceeded expectations that came with his one-year, $1.75 million free-agent contract. However, now the Giants will have to find the fill-in for the fill-in.
The good news is that if Cobb and Descalafny return in time, the Giants won’t have to cover as many starts, and all signs indicate they are headed in that direction. Descalfani, who is eligible to be active on June 21, is scheduled to throw 3-4 innings with Triple-A Sacramento in his first rehab debut on Saturday. Cobb, who is due back on June 19, is progressing well and is “very close to starting a major league for us” according to Kapler.
His return would complete the five-man rotation, but Junis’s rotation spot would come once before he was eligible to return. Sam Long, who delivered three strong innings on Tuesday against the Rockies and was due to start a bullpen game on Saturday against the Dodgers, would be a substitute, as well as Sean Hazel, who gave Cobb three innings from scratch initially. his beginning.
“We have many (options) at the triple-A level and many at the major-league level,” Kapler said. “We’ll see what kind of shape we’re in when Wednesday arrives.”
