The San Francisco Giants placed right-handed starting pitcher Matt Cain on the 15-day disabled list with a flexor strain, according to a team announcement. The move is retroactive to April 4.
Giants place Matt Cain on 15-day disabled list
Cain will have to wait a while longer to make his first start since last July.
Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
The Giants' hopes for a healthy season from Matt Cain have already taken a hit after the right-hander underwent an MRI for forearm tightness on Monday. The scan came about as a result of Cain feeling tightness in his final spring training start. He was scheduled to pitch his first game of the season Wednesday, but now the Giants will turn to Chris Heston.
The news is especially troubling considering Cain needed season-ending surgery last August to remove bone chips from his right elbow. After making at least 30 starts for eight straight seasons, the 30-year-old Cain started just 15 games for the Giants in 2014. And, after a rough 2013 campaign, the righty didn’t pitch particularly well before the surgery, finishing with a 4.18 ERA and 4.58 FIP in 90⅓ innings pitched.
That Cain is already suffering from forearm tightness isn’t a good sign for his health this season, never mind his ability to succeed if he is ever able to take the mound.
Given they were already depending heavily on Madison Bumgarner and three aging starters, the Giants' outlook becomes far less clear if Cain has a serious injury. Jake Peavy pitched well down the stretch for San Francisco, but he turns 34 in May and is set to miss his first start due to back tightness. Tim Hudson is 39 years old and Tim Lincecum has shown little indication that he can be a successful major league starter over the past three seasons.
The Giants are coming off another World Series title, but they have little margin for error in the NL West with the Dodgers aiming for their third straight division title.
Cain’s MRI and placement on the DL doesn’t mean he is headed for another serious surgery, but it doesn’t portend good things for his health either. The Giants’ pitching depth, meanwhile, has never looked so thin.
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