Why SF Giants transferred Anthony DeSclafani to 60-day IL

DENVER — On a day when the Giants activated Tommy La Stella and optioned a promising young outfielder to Triple-A, perhaps the most surprising roster move involved a player not currently with the team.

After Anthony DeSclafani was transferred to the 60-day injured list Monday, the 32-year-old right-hander won’t be eligible to rejoin the team for quite a bit longer. The earliest DeSclafani will be able to rejoin the Giants’ rotation is June 21, five weeks from now and two months since inflammation in his right ankle flared up and landed him on the shelf.

The move came as a surprise because DeSclafani had been progressing in his rehab and had begun to throw off a mound, but manager Gabe Kapler said there had been no setback in his recovery.

Rather, Kapler said, the Giants were prioritizing the long-term health of a pitcher they handed a three-year, $36 million contract to this offseason.

“We got together and discussed that a long, slow ramp for a pitcher is the most protective thing we can do for them,” Kapler said. “To accelerate the program in any way would have been to do Tony a disservice and to do the Giants over a long period of time a disservice as well. Tony is our pitcher. We are his team for three years.”

DeSclafani struggled in his three starts this season, posting an ERA (6.08) almost double his mark from last season (3.14), when he rebounded from shoulder injuries and earned the longest contract the Giants have given a pitcher under the current regime of president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi.

DeSclafani believes the rough start to this season can be attributed to the problems with his right ankle, which he uses to push off with. The inflammation first flared up late last season, but DeSclafani entered spring training hoping the issues were behind him, only for the discomfort to get progressively worse as the first month of the season wore on.

An extended absence for DeSclafani is a blow to the Giants’ rotation depth, without a doubt, but they have been served well in his stead by Jakob Junis. Junis, who signed a major-league deal this winter but broke camp with Triple-A, has already accrued the second-highest bWAR on the Giants in four appearances (two starts), with a 1.74 ERA, the lowest of anyone on the team to make a start.

The production from Junis, though, wasn’t a factor in the Giants’ decision to shift DeSclafani to the 60-day IL, Kapler said.

“I think reading in to anything but getting him back to the big leagues healthy and strong and capable of taking down a full workload is the most important piece of this puzzle,” Kapler said. “When he comes back to the big leagues, we’d like it to be in a starter’s role and be able to take down 75 pitches. Because he’s been off and not built up for so long, we have to reestablish that.”