SAN FRANCISCO – Blake Snell will start Monday on the pitcher’s mound, and he may end the day as a father.
The 31-year-old left-hander was reinstated from the paternity list on Sunday and will make his scheduled start as his girlfriend, Haeley Mar, is still awaiting the birth of the couple’s first child.
Her due date was last Monday, and Snell flew back from Pittsburgh to the Bay Area after his Wednesday start against the Pirates.
Snell, the reigning National League Cy Young award winner, has struggled in orange and black since signing a two-year, $62 million deal with the Giants.
He failed to make it past the fifth inning in any of his first three starts in April, and then he went on the injured list with a left groin injury.
After dominating the minor leagues during his rehab stint, Snell surrendered four earned runs in 3 ⅓ innings during his May 22 return against the Pirates.
Giants manager Bob Melvin saw reasons to be optimistic after the latest start.
“Incremental progress across the board,” Melvin said. “He was pretty good there early on. They made him throw a lot of pitches and it got away once he came out of the game, but I thought his stuff was a lot better.”
The longtime manager was cagey when asked about the plan for Tuesday, with a vague “TBD” listed as the San Francisco starter facing former Giants first-round pick Zack Wheeler on the MLB website, before Kyle Harrison is slated to start on Wednesday.
Mason Black, who filled that spot in the rotation through much of the last month after making his major league debut May 6, was optioned to Triple-A on Friday to make room for reliever Drew Pomeranz. In Thursday’s win over the Pirates, Black allowed four runs (all earned) in 2 2/3 innings, the third time in his four starts that he gave up at least that many runs.
“I think anything is on the table,” Melvin said. “Whether we want to piece it together, whether we go with a regular starter or we call someone from the minor league side.”
Wiseley makes another start at SS
Brett Wisely will make his third consecutive start at shortstop after getting seven hits in his last three games. The 25-year-old from Jacksonville is batting .438 in 16 at-bats, but perhaps most importantly, has not committed an error.
“Brett’s been great, and that’s why he’s out there,” Melvin said. “We always talk about how if you get here and you perform, we’re going to find a place for you to play.”
He has replaced top prospect Marco Luciano, who is hitting .391 but also committed five errors in the first five games of the Giants’ road trip before being sat for the finale against the New York Mets.
Luciano isn’t totally in the doghouse, but he’s firmly behind Wisely.
“Marco will get in the game here in this series, probably against lefties, but right now Brett is swinging the bat well and that’s why he’s in there.”
Injury updates
- The Giants’ shortstop situation could get even more muddled soon. Shortstop Nick Ahmed is rehabbing from a left wrist sprain and is expected to start batting practice in the next few days.
- Keaton Winn, who is dealing with a right forearm strain, threw a bullpen session on Monday morning.
- Melvin said ace Logan Webb is doing okay after yesterday’s game. The manager said. “He had a little bit of shin splint thing at first base … It bothered him for a little bit and then it started to loosen up, but no restrictions going into his next start.”
- Outfielder Michael Conforto could start a rehab assignment later this week, and is expected to increase his running over the next few days. Former Met Conforto said, “It was an unrealistic timeline to try and come back in New York. I think we made a good decision to let this heal with time.”
Joseph Dycus
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