Giants Downplay Injury To Landen Roupp, Say Elbow Issue Is 'Pretty Minor'

The San Francisco Giants were dealt a tough blow.

Breakout star Landen Roupp was placed on the 15-day injured list with elbow inflammation, a concerning issue that nobody wants to hear when it comes to pitchers since that can be a precursor for the dreaded Tommy John surgery.

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However, it doesn't seem like the Giants are too concerned with what Roupp is dealing with, believing they caught it at the perfect time.

"We think it's pretty minor," manager Bob Melvin said, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. "I think we caught it at the right time. We were kind of considering maybe just skipping him a turn, but with the IL being 15 days, it basically comes down to two starts. We're hopeful that he's going to be able to come back out after that."

Hopefully that is the case.

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Roupp has been fantastic for San Francisco this year, posting a 3.11 ERA and 124 ERA+ across 20 starts, outperforming perennial Cy Young contender Logan Webb as of late.

Not having him for the moment complicates things, with the Giants now needing to find two starts from somewhere out of an already short-handed staff.

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Bullpen games will be the first option, but calling someone up -- perhaps even Carson Whisenhunt for his MLB debut -- seems like it will need to happen at some point.

How Roupp recovers is also something that needs to be monitored.

While San Francisco is optimistic that this isn't severe, they have to hope he heals properly and can return to being the elite arm that he's been throughout the season.

For more Giants news, head over to Giants On SI.