The San Francisco Giants have struggled early this season, posting a 6-10 record entering their game Wednesday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Though their offense has struggled to score runs, their pitching staff has also struggled in the absences of its top three starting pitchers, Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, and Jeff Samardzija, all of whom have missed some time this season due to injury.
Bumgarner has missed the entire season thus far and is not expected back anytime soon. But Cueto returned Tuesday and pitched seven shutout innings against the D-backs, and according to Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy, Samardzija could make a return soon as well.
Bochy told reporters Wednesday that Samardzija could return to the mound as soon as Friday, according to Bay Area News Group’s Kerry Crowley.
Bochy said Jeff Samardzija could pitch Friday, and suggested they could bump Derek Holland back to Saturday. Nothing official yet.
— Kerry Crowley (@KO_Crowley) April 18, 2018
Samardzija is recovering from a strained pectoral muscle suffered during spring training. The Giants hope his return can help the team continue to have a chance in close games and improve the team’s 3.56 ERA, which was 11th in the majors entering Wednesday night’s game.