Where do SF Giants turn after Blake Snell’s ‘frustrating’ second injury?

PHOENIX — Bob Melvin gave it some thought and did the math.

“So, that’s five,” the Giants manager said, finishing his answer to a reporter’s question Monday afternoon before his team opened a three-game series against the Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

As in, five healthy starting pitchers, a figure Melvin could only claim by including the pitcher expected to take down bulk innings in relief that night, Spencer Howard, and looking ahead to the anticipated return of one full-time member of the rotation, Keaton Winn.

Winn has made enough progress on his way back from forearm tightness to warrant a seat on the team charter this trip — he could be an option if all goes well in a rehab outing scheduled for Tuesday at the Giants’ minor-league complex — but the loss of Blake Snell means the Giants’ rotation won’t return to full strength anytime soon.

Snell, 31, was placed on the injured list Monday for the second time in two months with same strain in his left groin that already kept him off the mound for a month. In a corresponding move, Michael Conforto was activated from the injured list and inserted into the starting lineup, batting cleanup and playing left field, for the first time since he strained his hamstring running to first base on May 11.

The Giants still don’t know the severity of Snell’s injury — he won’t receive an MRI until Tuesday — but Melvin acknowledged a second absence in such a short time frame, after Snell was already delayed to start the season, was “very” frustrating.

“From the very beginning of spring training until now, it’s been a pretty uneven process for him,” Melvin said of Snell, who didn’t sign his two-year, $62 million contract until March 19, occupied an active roster spot while waiting to debut until the fourth series of the season and is 0-3 with a 9.51 ERA in the six games he has started.

Just as things were beginning to take a turn for the better, Snell re-aggravated the same adductor muscle on the leg he uses to push off the rubber. Snell had struck out seven and limited the powerful Yankees lineup to one run when he handed off a bases-loaded jam to the bullpen, which allowed two more runs on his pitching line.

“When you feel like yesterday a lot of his pitches were there, fastball’s better, command’s better all around – you kind of feel like you’re getting there, and now all of a sudden we get a setback again,” Melvin said. “So, pretty frustrating. Certainly for us, no more so than him.”

Snell, who welcomed the birth of his son Thursday, remained in San Francisco but addressed reporters Sunday, saying the injury was “definitely a bummer,” due in no small part to the progress he believed he was making from start to start.

“A lot of good stuff’s been happening the last couple weeks where I was like, ‘OK, it’s coming,'” Snell said. “The confidence, understanding how to make the adjustments, just a lot was getting better. So I was really excited for what was to come. We’ll get there.”

When Snell’s rotation spot comes up the next time around for the 13th time this season, the Giants will have to find a way to cover it for the seventh time. Mason Black, who made four of those outings with an 8.79 ERA, has been pitching well at Triple-A Sacramento, where the Giants also have two other options they’ve called up to cover innings, Daulton Jefferies and Kai-Wei Teng, and their top-ranked pitching prospect, Carson Whisenhunt.

Howard, a 27-year-old who found his fourth organization when the Giants picked up as a minor-league free agent last September, got the first audition for the role following opener Erik Miller on Monday after the journeyman right-hander tossed four scoreless innings of relief against the Phillies last week.

“I think with what we have right now we feel comfortable with,” Melvin said. “Spencer’s done what he did last time. We’ll see where that comes out today. But he’s been up to 85 pitches or so in the minor leagues. So he’ll be part of (the solution).”

Whisenhunt, 23, has a 5.96 ERA and has yet to pitch past the fifth inning in any of his 12 starts for the River Cats, and Melvin said, “I think getting him a little bit deeper into the game and obviously having some success,” were the obstacles standing in his way to a promotion.

Melvin brought up Black’s name unprompted, saying that the 24-year-old prospect would be “part of the discussion down the road here.” He lowered his Triple-A ERA to 1.35 in eight starts with four scoreless innings Sunday afternoon.

The Giants hope to slot Winn into the rotation after one more rehab start, which would line him up to return to the rotation Sunday for the finale of the road trip in Texas, though the young right-hander said he could be an option for the big-league team Tuesday if necessary.

Kyle Harrison is scheduled to start the Giants’ second game in Arizona, followed by Jordan Hicks in the series finale Wednesday. A day off Thursday which could help them navigate their shorthanded rotation and a bullpen that has thrown the most innings in the majors since the start of May.

With the addition of Conforto and the looming return of Winn, though, Melvin struck an upbeat tone.

“It’s nice to be able to get guys back,” the manager said, “as opposed to losing them it seemed like every other day or so for a while.”