San Francisco Giants Promote Elite Minor League Pitcher Ahead of Cubs Series

The San Francisco Giants have a made a pitching move ahead of their upcoming series.

Feb 24, 2023; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Raymond Burgos poses for a portrait during photo day at Scottsdale Municipal Stadium / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

It has been a struggle for the San Francisco Giants and their pitching staff this year.

Already knowing they would be without Alex Cobb and Robbie Ray for an extended time, they also picked up injuries to their ace Blake Snell, Kyle Harrison, and Keaton Winn who are all three on the injured list right now.

That's made things extremely difficult to overcome for this Giants team who had hopes of getting back into the playoffs before the season started.

Manager Bob Melvin voiced his concerns about their current pitching situation, noting how all of these injuries have put tons of innings on the arms of their bullpen unit, which could burn them out before they get to the important closing stretch of the year.

Because of that, there was some thought San Francisco might look to promote some of their top arms in Triple-A to see what they can do at the Major League level.

They ultimately decided to do just that, but it wasn't a player that many expected.

According to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, the Giants have called up Raymond Burgos from the minors, designating first baseman Trenton Brooks for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man and active rosters.

Burgos has been sensational in Triple-A as a reliever.

Across nine outings and 22 innings pitched, the left-hander has posted a 1.64 ERA, giving up only four earned runs on 16 hits with four of those being homers.

Pavlovic notes this is a move made to help their bullpen, as he can throw two or three innings when called upon, hopefully limiting the workload for their current relief staff.

If he's able to pitch well, that would be a major boost for San Francisco.

They're still waiting for Blake Snell to return from his rehab assignment, but after a poor outing, it seems like there could still be some time before that happens. Robbie Ray has progressed quickly in his recovery, reaching Triple-A and performing well, so he might also return sooner than initially expected.