The San Francisco Giants are in desperate need of pitching help.
They have been completely decimated by injuries, forcing them to use a plethora of different starting options and overwork their bullpen, something manager Bob Melvin has stated his concerns about.
Knowing they needed another option in their relief unit, they called up a top performer from their Triple-A affiliate to come in and give their current arms some much needed help.
The Giants are also hoping their injured starters can make their returns soon.
Robbie Ray sounds like he is progressing well after putting together a good outing in his rehab stint. Blake Snell also was able to make an outing in the minors, although that didn’t go quite as expected when he was charged with two earned runs on three hits and three walks during 1.1 innings of work.
San Francisco brought in the reigning NL Cy Young winner to become the ace of their staff alongside Logan Webb. The idea was these two would be able to stabilize their rotation in front of some exciting backend starters before their players on the IL were ready to return.
That has not been the case.
The Giants desperately need Snell back and performing to an elite level.
But as the left-hander works his way back from his groin strain, it sounds like he’s not too pleased with how fast he is being pushed to getting back onto the Major League mound.
“I haven’t felt like myself yet. It’s just, ‘We need you. We need you. We need you.’ It’s not like, ‘Let’s get him right,’ and I have to deal with it,” he said according to Shayna Rubin of The San Francisco Chronicle.
That is quite the explosive quote.
Snell had previously voiced his frustration about going on the injured list for the second time this season, but to seemingly take a shot at the organization for wanting back on the field is certainly eye-opening.
“I want to be healthy and 100% and I haven’t been. I’ve just been fighting to rush back. So that’s my take. I’m frustrated with that. And you don’t get the product of what I should be and it’s just frustrating. I want to go out there and dominate and pitch the way that I pitch but it’s more important that I’m out there,” he added.
When the veteran star has been on the field, it hasn’t quite gone smoothly.
In six starts, he has posted an 0-3 record and 9.51 ERA.
At the beginning, his struggles were understood as he signed so late in the process that he wasn’t able to get a full ramp up period in Spring Training. Then, he got injured and started the cycle of trying to get back to health.
It’s understandable why Snell would be so frustrated. He was brought in to be a difference maker for his new team and he’s been anything but that.
These comments certainly won’t help anything, though.
It will be interesting to see what develops following this statement.
