— Jake Montero (@jakemmontero) July 1, 2018
The Giants’ injury issues had slowed in June, but July started with a scare.
In the third inning of San Francisco’s series finale at Arizona, Giants infielder Pablo Sandoval was hit in the elbow by a Zack Godley pitch. Sandoval hunched over for several seconds before manager Bruce Bochy and athletic trainer Dave Groeschner tended to him. Alen Hanson later replaced Sandoval at third base as the Giants try to sweep the first-place Diamondbacks.
Sandoval reportedly did not suffer a fracture. The Giants labeled the right elbow injury as a contusion.
Sandoval was one of the few Giants infielders who had escaped a massive injury bug this year. All of their everyday infielders, aside from shortstop Brandon Crawford, have suffered some type of injury that sent them to the disabled list this year. Sandoval was expected to be given Monday off in San Francisco’s series opener against the Colorado Rockies, which now seems like a guarantee.
The 31-year-old has enjoyed a resurgent season in his return to the Giants after a failed experiment with the Boston Red Sox. Sandoval entered Sunday’s game slashing .262/.324/.405, which would be his best line since the 2014 season, his last with the Giants prior to the 2018 season.