Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Tony Watson’s last moment of the season likely will go down as a game-saver. And possibly season-ender.
Watson dove Wednesday in St. Louis to tag Kolten Wong, who had just bunted, and made contact with him just in time. But he came down on his left (throwing) wrist. While the eighth-inning tag may have saved the game, it may be the last time we see Watson this year.
The reliable southpaw had an MRI on Monday that revealed a small left fracture in his left wrist. The Giants will shut him down for 10 days, with Bruce Bochy suggesting a splint may be in order, before he’s reevaluated.
Bochy suggested this doesn’t necessarily mean Watson’s season is over, but with 19 games remaining, he acknowledged time is running out.
“It’s going to be close, that’s fair to say,” Bochy said before the Giants opened a series with the Pirates at Oracle Park.
Bochy said Watson tried to throw Sunday, and “you could tell” something was off.
Watson has a player option for 2020, and there’s a chance he has thrown his final pitch for the Giants. Watson has had a solid season, even if his 4.33 ERA doesn’t reflect how reliable he was; a three-appearance span from Aug. 11-18 in which he gave up nine runs in one inning skewed it.
With Will Smith also a to-be free agent and Reyes Moronta undergoing labrum surgery Tuesday, the Giants’ bullpen could look very different next season.