The Giants’ playoff hopes are like a sunset slowly fading over the horizon, just not as picturesque or pleasing.
San Francisco’s painful push for the postseason absorbed another gut punch when starting pitcher Robbie Ray was forced out of Sunday’s game against the Seattle Mariners with a strained left hamstring in the fourth inning.
That left a lot of innings for an already heavily taxed bullpen to cover, which they did a decent job of for the most part in the 4-3 loss to the Mariners at T-Mobile Park.
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The bullpen’s workload, though, is secondary in the big picture.
Ray is scheduled to have an MRI on Monday to reveal the extent of the hamstring injury. The 32-year-old, who missed the first four months of the 2024 MLB season while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, sounded optimistic when talking to reporters after the game.
“I just felt it one one pitch, felt it kind of tighten up on me,” Ray told reporters in Seattle. “Took a step and I was like, ‘Ahh.’ I’ve tried to push through injuries in the past before and it hasn’t gone well for me, so hopefully caught it before anything significant.
“At this point, we don’t really know anything. Just kind of some tightness. Hopefully just avoiding a long-term sit out is a good thing. For me it felt very small, felt minor. I just didn’t want to push it and make it into something significant. I’ve never felt anything like that. It kind of caught me off guard.”
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Even a short stint of rest would be a blow to the Giants, who already have been slammed by injuries and a constant shuffling of pitchers in and out of the starting rotation.
Manager Bob Melvin, who has been criticized by many fans for some of the pitching moves he has made this season, almost sounded resigned to the idea that Ray will be sidelined for a bit.
“Hopefully he caught it when it’s mild, but those things don’t take typically a couple days,” Melvin said. “It sucks for him, but you somehow have to find a way to deal with it. Just glad it’s not his arm again. We’ll figure it out as we go, but certainly not ideal.”
If there’s any sort of silver lining to this, it’s that the Giants should be very familiar with juggling their pitchers around. Melvin has had to use 14 different starting pitchers during his first season with the Orange and Black, so he’s accustomed to having to shuffle pieces of the puzzle around when needed.
“During the course of the season, you’re going to have some issues,” Melvin said. “That’s why you try to create some depth in the rotation, so we’ll see what’s next for us. I really don’t know.”
The timing of the latest setback couldn’t be worse for the Giants or Ray. San Francisco is still clinging to dimming playoff aspirations, while Ray has been trying to salvage his first season in the Bay Area after missing so much time recovering from the elbow surgery.
Ray had some command issues in the first few innings against the Mariners but was still effective enough with his combination of fastball and slider to generate four strikeouts – three of them swinging – in his brief afternoon of work.
The former Cy Young Award winner said he felt he was pitching well before his hamstring tightened.
“I felt like I was getting in a groove. That inning everything was feeling good,” Ray said. “It’s definitely frustrating, for sure.
“It’s obviously tight. There’s no getting around that. I think we caught it before it became too significant.”
Monday’s MRI test can’t come fast enough for Ray or the Giants. Until then, expect a lot of folks to be holding their breath.
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