The Giants placed right-hander Keaton Winn on the 15-day injured list, with a retroactive placement date of June 11. Right-hander Tristan Beck was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.
Winn is dealing with a right elbow strain, though Giants manager Tony Vitello downplayed the seriousness of the strain when speaking with MLB.com’s Maria Guardado (separate links) and other reporters. The reliever could be able to start throwing again in a “handful” of days, as per Vitello, and it doesn’t appear as though an MRI revealed any notable structural damage.
As Guardado noted, even a seemingly minor elbow issue is notable given Winn’s injury history, which includes a Tommy John surgery and an ulnar nerve transposition surgery. His lack of durability was one reason San Francisco moved Winn (once a touted starting pitching prospect) into a relief role last year, and Winn has pitched pretty well coming out of the pen in 2026.
Over 30 2/3 innings this season, Winn has a 3.23 ERA, 21.8% strikeout rate, and 7.6% walk rate. A .235 BABIP has certainly contributed to Winn’s success, but hitters aren’t getting much on the ball when they do put it in play. Winn’s 27.7% hard-hit ball rate ranks in the 96th percentile of all pitchers, and his 4.8% barrel rate is also very strong.
Winn’s numbers were even better before a slump that saw the righty post an 8.53 ERA over his last five outings and 6 1/3 IP. That tough stretch included appearances in three straight games on June 6-8, and Winn was tagged for three runs in two-third of an inning in the last of those outings on June 8 (which was his last game before his IL stint).
These recent struggles aside, Winn has been one of the more reliable members of an overall inconsistent Giants bullpen. Beck is up in the majors for the third time this season and is looking to improve on a 9.00 ERA over his eight innings of MLB action. Left-hander Matt Gage also might not be far away from a return, as Gage began a minor league rehab assignment on Saturday. Gage posted a 2.63 ERA (albeit with some shaky peripherals) over his first 24 innings before a bout of knee inflammation sent him to the 15-day IL on June 2.
On the rotation front, Tyler Mahle is slated to begin a Triple-A rehab assignment today. Mahle hasn’t pitched since May 26, as a left hamstring strain sent him to the 15-day IL the next day. While it looks like the strain wasn’t too severe, the injury added to a tough beginning to Mahle’s San Francisco tenure.
After signing a one-year, $10MM free agent deal this past winter, Mahle posted a 6.04 ERA over his first 56 2/3 innings in the Giants rotation. Mahle’s 4.17 SIERA is more palatable and it reflects his .331 BABIP, but the right-hander hasn’t helped his cause by allowing 11 home runs.
Mahle will probably rejoin the rotation in place of Trevor McDonald, who has been a useful fill-in first for Logan Webb and now for Mahle. Guardado suggests that the trade deadline could factor into the Giants’ thinking in giving Mahle more time to right the ship as a starter, as an in-form Mahle is a natural trade candidate if the Giants can’t get back into contention.
Turning to position players, Guardado writes that Heliot Ramos could also be close to starting a rehab assignment. Ramos sustained a right quad strain while trying to make a sliding catch in the Giants’ 5-2 loss to the Athletics on May 15, but after a month of recovery time, Ramos’ baseball activity has progressed to the point that he looks to be nearing some on-field action in the minors. Ramos was hitting .267/.307/.424 with four homers in 176 PA at the time of his injury.
