Giants place Sam Coonrod on injured list after reliever blows save opportunity
Coonrod blew late leads on Thursday and Friday.
Giants right-hander Sam Coonrod’s velocity was down and his control was off in a miserable Friday night outing against the San Diego Padres.
The Giants now think they know why.
The club placed Coonrod on the 10-day injured list with a right shoulder strain Saturday after he blew seventh-inning leads on Thursday against the Rockies and Friday against the Padres. Both bad outings came in what will likely go down as the worst losses of the Giants’ season as the club had opportunities to create separation from the Phillies and Brewers in the National League wild card standings.
“It just became an issue after he came out of the game last night,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “He came in and reported some shoulder soreness and we have the obligation to take care of Sam.”
With Coonrod headed to the injured list, the Giants recalled right-handed reliever Rico Garcia who could be counted on to play a key role over the next two days for a bullpen that’s been depleted in the last week. Aside from adding Garcia, Kapler said the Giants will have right-handed starter Logan Webb available to pitch in relief on what would normally be the day he throws a bullpen between starts.
The Giants are in the midst of playing 13 games in 12 days to close the season and have had to cover 25 innings over the last two days. Following an 11-inning loss to the Rockies on Thursday, the Giants split a doubleheader on Friday against the Padres on a day that left Kapler feeling like his club wasted an opportunity.
San Francisco led San Diego 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning in Game 2 on Friday before Coonrod entered and gave up a walk-off three-run home run to Padres center fielder Trent Grisham.
Coonrod’s fastball normally sits between 98-100 miles per hour, but it was down to around 96 in Friday’s appearance. The right-hander was pitching for the fourth time in five days as he struck out five of the six hitters he faced in games on Monday and Tuesday against the Rockies.
Coonrod never had command of his pitches on Friday and clearly struggled to throw strikes.
We Need Your Support!
Several Giants articles will remain free every 30 days – and I’ve launched a free newsletter and podcast that come Monday-Friday – but for access to all of my coverage you’ll need to subscribe to MercuryNews.com or EastBayTimes.com. Click here for our latest Mercury News offer and here for the latest East Bay Times offer. Thank you! — Kerry Crowley