Giants starter Trevor McDonald has been diagnosed with a moderate UCL sprain in his elbow, manager Tony Vitello told reporters on Friday (link via Adrian Garro of MLB.com). He’ll go for a second opinion this weekend to determine a treatment plan.
McDonald went on the 15-day injured list earlier in the week. Vitello implied he’s unlikely to pitch again this season. It’s unclear if surgery is a possibility. If the ligament damage is extensive enough that McDonald were to go under the knife, he’d miss most or all of 2027 as well.
The 25-year-old McDonald had brief big league stints in 2024 and ’25. This has been his first season with decent run at the MLB level. He has held a rotation spot since early May, taking 14 starts and tossing 70 1/3 innings. McDonald pitched well early but has struggled over the last six weeks and now carries a 5.12 ERA on the year. He has gotten ground-balls at an excellent 55.2% clip but has a modest 18.4% strikeout rate.
McDonald’s last appearance came on Monday. Tyler Mahle and Landen Roupp rounded out that series against the Royals. The Giants were off yesterday and have Logan Webb and Robbie Ray for the first two games of this weekend’s set against the Angels. They haven’t announced a starter for Sunday’s finale in what’d be McDonald’s spot, but the simplest option would be to move Adrian Houser back up from the bullpen.
Vitello also provided a discouraging update on Harrison Bader, who has been down since the end of May with plantar fasciitis in his left foot. The speedy outfielder has been shut down from baseball activities with continued soreness. Vitello said the Giants are still hopeful of getting him back this season, but it’s not going to be anytime soon.
Bader is in the first season of a two-year, $20.5MM free agent contract. He has been limited to 30 games and has a .198 on-base percentage. It was already clear the Giants weren’t going to be able to drum up any trade interest. They’ll hope to get him back at some point in the final two months to try to build positive momentum into the offseason.
Both players could move to the 60-day injured list at some point, as could lefty reliever Matt Gage. The Giants already have two openings on the 40-man roster. They’re likely to trade Luis Arraez, Ray, Mahle and potentially JT Brubaker within the next week and a half. They’ll have ample flexibility to take some shots on the waiver wire for players who get pushed off other rosters after the deadline. Carson Whisenhunt and Blade Tidwell should get rotation auditions once Ray and Mahle are moved.
