Rotation help on the way for starter-starved SF Giants: Alex Wood makes rehab start, nearing return

SAN FRANCISCO — With two starters sidelined and another in the bullpen, the Giants have been piecing their pitching together for weeks. On Sunday, that meant the same reliever who started Saturday’s bullpen game was back on the mound as Sunday’s starter, too.

Some 90 miles away, though, help was on the horizon.

Alex Wood was scheduled to make a rehab outing at Triple-A Sacramento on Sunday. Scheduled to throw in the neighborhood of 50 pitches, manager Gabe Kapler said Wood could be an option to take down a start this weekend in Los Angeles, once he is eligible to be activated.

“He’s on track to be activated soon after (Sunday’s start),” Kapler said Sunday before the Giants’ series finale against the Cubs. “Obviously nothing’s set in stone, but there’s no reason he can’t pitch in a major league game the next time through if we think that’s what’s best for Alex and our team.”

Wood was placed on the IL retroactive to June 1 with a low back strain, making him eligible on Friday, when the Giants open a three-game series at Dodger Stadium. He said his lower left side “just locked up a bit” when he returned home from his last start against the Pirates. While rotation-mate Ross Stripling has missed more than a month now with his own low back strain, Wood was confident at the time that his was less serious and that he could be activated after the minimum 15-day stay on the IL.

With two off days since Wood’s last start, the Giants have been able to get by with Logan Webb, Alex Cobb and Anthony DeSclafani as their only starting pitchers. But Sunday also marked the third time in the past nine games they relied on a menagerie of relievers to cover the nine innings rather than a traditional starter.

“It’s not perfect,” Kapler said, “but when you have a couple of pitchers who are down like Strip and Wood who are unavailable, you have three healthy and productive starters you can count on each time through the rotation, you’ve gotta do stuff like this.”

With Saturday’s loss, the Giants fell to 4-3 in bullpen games this season. While the Cubs tagged Jakob Junis for four runs, the Giants were shutout and managed only one hit, four outs away from being no-hit.

“Obviously didn’t go perfectly yesterday,” Kapler said. “But these games, you look up at the scoreboard and on a day like yesterday, you’ve given up four runs. You realize it’s really about how many runs you scored and not necessarily that you ran a game with multiple pitchers.”

It’s easier to lean on the bullpen when it has performed like the Giants’ group of relievers has over the past month-plus. After an atrocious April (6.15 ERA, 28th in MLB), the Giants bullpen has been among the best in the majors, with a 2.52 ERA in May (second) and a 2.83 mark so far in June (t-fourth).

Keaton Winn, who has allowed one run over his past three starts at Triple-A, was scratched from his scheduled start Saturday in Sacramento and, already on the 40-man roster, could have been called up to make his debut Sunday. There’s also top prospect Kyle Harrison, who has also strung together a stretch of solid outings at Triple-A.

But it was John Brebbia, who needed only 19 pitches to throw two scoreless innings as the opener on Saturday, who got the starting nod again on Sunday. Brebbia has made 17 career starts, including six of the Giants’ seven bullpen games this season, and allowed only two runs (a 1.00 ERA) in those appearances, while the Giants have posted a 10-7 record.

“It’s not a guarantee of success, but he’s got a pretty good track record of it now and enjoys it enough that it doesn’t feel like a chore,” Kapler said. “We plan it, he’s up for it, and we do it. Does it make it easier? Definitely. The last thing you want to do is fighting with somebody who doesn’t want to (open). He’s one of our leverage relievers. He pitches big moments late in games. The first inning through a tough part of the lineup is a big moment, too.”

Notable

— Kapler also mentioned after Saturday’s game that Sean Manaea could be an option to start next time through the rotation. Manaea retired all 13 batters he faced Saturday and has a 2.29 ERA in six appearances since being moved into the bullpen. Following up Sunday, though, Kapler said, “We’ve seen him thriving in this role, so we don’t necessarily want to take him out of the role.”

— Catcher Patrick Bailey (neck) sat out for the fourth time in five games, but Kapler said he was feeling better and expected to be available off the bench, whereas on Saturday he was only available in emergency situations.