Just mere hours before the series finale against the New York Mets, the San Francisco Giants placed probable starter Blake Snell on the injured list with a left adductor strain. The lefty was set to face the Mets on Wednesday in hopes of leading the Giants to a series sweep.
The Giants are expected to turn to reliever Ryan Walker to start in Snell’s place on Wednesday as an opener. Furthermore, the team recalled pitcher Landen Roupp from Triple-A, and Roupp is expected to pitch multiple innings behind Walker.
San Francisco Giants Place Blake Snell on Injured List
The injury continues a rough start to Snell’s season. The reigning Cy Young winner has an 11.57 ERA in 11 2/3 innings across the starts this year. Many expected a slow start since Snell signed so late in Spring Training and is notoriously a slow starter.
The lefty was expected to round into form after a handful of starts across April and May. However, Snell joining the injured list will surely set him and the team back a few weeks.
In the meantime, the Giants are set up nicely to replace him last minute on Wednesday. The bullpen is largely rested after Logan Webb‘s stellar eight-inning start on Tuesday. Plus, fresh arms like Roupp and Mitch White joined the staff this week and will be available.
Roupp, 25, made San Francisco’s Opening Day roster after a stellar spring. He struck out 13 and gave up two runs in eight innings of work. However, he hasn’t had much success this season in eight relief appearances. The righty sports a 4.35 ERA with a low strikeout rate in 10 1/3 innings this year.
MLB Pipeline ranks Roupp as the Giants’ 11th best prospect and places a back-end starter ceiling on him. Roupp creates sink and deception on his fastball with a lower arm slot but relies on a high spin wipeout curveball for success.
Snell fans surely won’t be happy with his injury, but Wednesday’s news should give Roupp and opportunity to show his stuff across multiple innings.
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