Giants shut down Anthony DeSclafani, doubtful to pitch again in 2023

A Grade 1 flexor strain sent Anthony DeSclafani to the 15-day injured list last weekend, leading to some speculation that the right-hander’s season might be over. 

Some new details have added more doubt to DeSclafani’s status, as Giants manager Gabe Kapler told media (including MLB.com and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle) that DeSclafani received a PRP injection Sunday and will be shut down from throwing for the next six to eight weeks.

Kapler said “we don’t want to rule anything out” about DeSclafani’s status, but the calendar alone seems to suggest that the righty may have already thrown his last pitch of the season. 

In the best-case scenario that DeSclafani is able to resume throwing on Sept. 18, he won’t have much time to ramp up, so he would very likely return as a reliever at most. 

If the recovery takes longer than six weeks or if San Francisco is out of the playoff race by the back half of September, the team might just opt to shut DeSclafani down and look ahead to 2024.

DeSclafani had an excellent year with the Giants in 2021 and he returned to the team in free agency that offseason on a three-year, $36M contract. Unfortunately, he has been plagued by injuries ever since, most notably an ankle surgery that limited his 2022 campaign to just 19 innings. 

DeSclafani has a 4.88 ERA over 99 2/3 innings this year, dealing with a nagging toe injury, as well as a minimum 15-day stint on the IL in July due to shoulder fatigue.

Had DeSclafani been healthy, the Giants’ trade deadline might have looked quite different, as the club was getting some calls about its starting rotation depth prior to Aug. 1. However, with DeSclafani’s injury already thinning that depth, San Francisco opted against moving pitching and ended up largely standing pat at the deadline. 

The Giants are already using an unorthodox rotation of two regular starters (Logan Webb and Alex Cobb) and then several other hurlers as openers and bulk pitchers, depending on circumstances and availability.

It remains to be seen if San Francisco can ride this tactic for the next two months, but the results have been good so far, as the Giants entered Sunday’s play with a 61-50 record and the top NL wild card slot. 

DeSclafani’s chances of a return would enhance if the Giants can extend their season into October, though a team might not want to use a playoff series roster spot on a pitching coming off an extended layoff.