Mark Melancon’s season is officially over.
The Giants’ closer will undergo pronator release surgery on Tuesday in Los Angeles, according to reporters traveling with the Giants in Chicago.
Mark Melancon will have season-ending surgery Tuesday (pronator release). Bochy said he’ll be fully recovered long before spring training.
— John Shea (@JohnSheaHey) September 8, 2017
Melancon has been transparent about the compression he’s felt in his forearm this season, speaking with reporters on multiple occasions about the injury that has plagued him since the beginning of Spring Training.
Melancon told reporters weeks ago that he’s felt tightness in his pronator in previous seasons, but the tightness has always dissipated. This season, however, Melancon has been forced to the disabled list on two separate occasions and now, he’ll end his season prematurely in order to be healthy and ready to go for the 2018 campaign.
Dr. Steven Shin will conduct the season-ending pronator release surgery on Mark Melcancon in Los Angeles on Tuesday. #Giants
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) September 8, 2017
The 32-year-old right-hander signed a four-year, $62 million contract during the offseason to shore up San Francisco’s back end of the bullpen, but he’ll finish the season with just 11 saves in 16 opportunities. Melancon pitched in 32 games for the Giants this season, recording a 4.50 earned run average in 30 innings.
Melancon’s 32 appearances are his fewest since the 2010 season and his 4.50 ERA is his highest since posting a 6.20 ERA in 2012 with the Boston Red Sox.
The recovery time for Melancon’s surgery will reportedly take six-to-eight weeks, and the Giants anticipate that he’ll be completely healthy by the start of Spring Training.
Dear fans…. #WeAreSF #SFGiants pic.twitter.com/InnnuUQ02T
— Mark Melancon (@Mark_Melancon_) September 8, 2017
According to Henry Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle and Andrew Baggarly of The San Jose Mercury News, the condition impacting Melancon is called pronator syndrome, which causes inflammation and pain due to muscles and nerves which are constricted by surrounding tissue.