San Francisco Giants Morning Minute: Rotation Switch, Injury Updates

On this edition of the San Francisco Giants Morning Minute, we discuss a minor change in the Giants’ rotation, and figure out what’s going on with the team’s numerous injured players.

Good morning, San Francisco Giants’ fans, and welcome to another edition of the Giants Morning Minute. The All-Star break is finally coming to an end, and big league baseball is right around the corner. Though there was no game action on Thursday, there is still plenty to talk about, as the Giants have made a relatively small change to their rotation, and there are plenty of injured players whose recoveries were updated.

Here’s what you need to know before the second-half starts.

1 – New Look in the Rotation

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The second-half rotation will have a mildly different look for the Giants. As expected, Madison Bumgarner will kick off the first post-All-Star series against the San Diego Padres, making his third start in the last seven games for the Giants. But despite ideas that the Giants could use off-days to go with a four-man rotation in the early part of the second-half, the team will move right into a five-man pitching lineup.

Johnny Cueto, who started and threw 35 pitches in the All-Star Game, will get an extra day of rest, as Jeff Samardzija will follow Bumgarner in game two against San Diego on Saturday. Cueto will take the mound on Sunday in the series finale. The Bumgarner-Cueto tandem will no longer take the mound on back-to-back days, at least in the early goings of the second half.

After another off-day on Monday, the Giants will have a quick two-game series at Fenway Park with the Boston Red Sox. In game one on Tuesday, former Red Sock Jake Peavy will pitch in Beantown for the first time since the 2014 trade that brought him to San Francisco. On Wednesday, Matt Cain is scheduled to be activated from the disabled list and start in the big leagues for the first time in over a month. Cain has one more rehab start planned, going for the San Jose Giants on Friday.

That will give Bumgarner two extra days of rest between starts after pitching a lot in a short span. It also prevents Cueto from pitching on less-than-regular rest after the All-Star game.

2 – A Whole Mess of Injury Updates

As mentioned earlier, Cain is just about ready to re-join the big league staff. When he pitches at San Jose, he could have a familiar face behind him on the infield. Giants’ utility infielder Ehire Adrianza is rehabbing with San Jose as well, and has played three games for the Little Giants. He has picked up three hits so far, including two doubles, and has driven in a run. He played shortstop for five innings in the first game of a double-header on Thursday before playing designated hitter in the second game.

The plan is to have Adrianza stay in San Jose for the duration of their current roadtrip, which would take them to Tuesday. After that, he should join the Triple-A Sacramento team for the duration of his 20-day rehab clock.