SF Giants activate LHP Alex Wood, place RHP John Brebbia on 15-day IL

Manager Gabe Kapler lost his favorite opener when the SF Giants placed John Brebbia on the IL to create a spot on the roster for Alex Wood.

Marc Delucchi | Jun 17, 2023

SF Giants activate LHP Alex Wood, place RHP John Brebbia on 15-day IL /

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San Francisco Giants

The SF Giants activated left-handed pitcher Alex Wood from the injured list on Saturday. Wood will take the mound as the Giants starter, squaring up against Los Angeles Dodgers rookie righty Bobby Miller. In a corresponding move, the team placed right-handed pitcher John Brebbia on the 15-day injured list with a Grade 2 lat strain. The timeline for a return from a Grade 2 lat strain is generally more than a month.

SF Giants starting pitcher Alex Wood throws a pitch against the Miami Marlins. (2023) / Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports

Wood has been on the injured list since early June with a lower back strain. Wood said at the time of his injury that he expected to return as soon as he was eligible, and his prediction appears to have been accurate. Earlier this week, Wood went on a rehab assignment at Triple-A Sacramento. In his lone appearance, Wood surrendered one earned run on three hits and a walk with one strikeout across three innings pitched. He threw 53 pitches.

When he's been healthy this season, Wood has been inconsistent as a back-end starter for the Giants. While injuries have prevented him from taking on a heavy workload, he has racked up 30 strikeouts in 30 innings pitched (8 appearances) with 16 walks and a 4.80 ERA (4.58 FIP). Wood has been with the Giants since the 2021 season, recording a 4.48 ERA in 299.1 innings pitched (60 appearances) across his tenure.

The Giants starting rotation has been depleted by injuries and poor performance, leading Kapler to turn to bullpen games in the rotation's final two spots recently. Brebbia had been Kapler's primary option to start those games. On the season, Brebbia has a 3.14 ERA (2.72 FIP) with 36 strikeouts and 10 walks in 28.2 innings pitched (29 appearances). Brebbia has made eight starts, allowing just one run in nine innings pitched during those outings.

The Giants welcomed one starting pitcher back to the active roster but have lost John Brebbia, one of their most consistent relievers, for at least a couple of weeks. Nevertheless, Alex Wood will look to help extend the SF Giants' winning streak to six games on Saturday night against the Dodgers.

Published Jun 17, 2023

MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).