San Francisco Giants To Activate Key Starter For Sunday’s Game

The San Francisco Giants, beaten up with pitching injuries, should have one of their key starters back against the Texas Rangers.

May 14, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Keaton Winn (67) pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning at Oracle Park. / Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco Giants should activate and start right-hander Keaton Winn for Sunday’s series finale with the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field, per multiple reports.

The Giants will need to make a roster move to make space for Winn, who has been out since May 17 with a right forearm strain.

It’s good news for San Francisco who have several pitching injuries and, as a result, started Spencer Howard on Saturday. The long reliever hadn’t started a game since 2022 with the Rangers.

Winn was 3-6 with a 3.17 ERA in nine starts before the injury. He struck out 33 and walked 15 in 42.1 innings.

The 26-year-old made a rehab start with the ACL Giants earlier this week, which coincided with the Giants’ trip to face the Arizona Diamondbacks. It gave team leadership a chance to take a peek and make sure that Winn was progressing.

The Iowa native has already made as many starts as he made last season, when he went 1-3 with a 4.68 ERA.

Meanwhile, Blake Snell threw from flat ground on Friday and he ramps up from a left groin strain that landed him on the 15-day injured list for the second time this year. He missed 25 games with a left adductor strain previously.

San Francisco believes he could start throwing off a mound next week.

On the 60-day IL, former Cy Young winner Robbie Ray is set to throw two innings with the ACL Giants on Saturday as he bids to return to the rotation after the All-Star break.

Another potential starter, Alex Cobb, is throwing from flat ground and hasn’t graduated to throwing off a mound after a shoulder injury set him back after offseason hip surgery.