The Giants' pitching depth continues to be challenged.
Just as Sean Hjelle was on track to win either a long relief job or potentially a spot in the rotation, the right-hander sustained a right elbow sprain and will be re-evaluated in a couple of weeks, the team announced Tuesday.
Per MLB.com, Hjelle has been shut down from throwing for two weeks.
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"We don’t want things to linger, so hopefully it’s just the two weeks," manager Bob Melvin told reporters Tuesday, via MLB.com. "As a reliever, it’s easier to ramp up, so we’ll see where we are toward the end of camp, but it's not ideal."
"There’s no structural damage, but I do have a sprain," Hjelle told reporters, via MLB.com. "So I’ve just got to do the due diligence and make sure it’s healthy and then be reevaluated and go from there."
This comes after right-hander Tristan Beck, who was competing for a spot in the back end of San Francisco's rotation, had surgery Monday to remove an aneurysm in his pitching arm.
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Giants manager Bob Melvin said last week that Hjelle was a top candidate to move into the rotation after Beck's injury, The San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser reported.
But now, he, too, will take a backseat as the Giants try to piece together their pitching puzzle before the 2024 MLB season, which opens on Thursday, March 28.
Logan Webb, Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks and Keaton Winn currently are the only healthy starters for San Francisco as the team, along with many others, continues its pursuit of reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell.
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