SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco Giants manager Bob Melvin said left-hander Blake Snell looked good during his bullpen session Saturday morning, but added that the club will wait to see the two-time Cy Young Award winner's response before deciding on next steps.
“We'll see how he feels after this and what's next for him,” Melvin said before the Giants' game against the Los Angeles Angels at Oracle Park, “but he seems to be making progress, throwing all his pitches, today was kind of an up and down with a simulated inning after he got loose.”
“We'll talk later about what's next for him.”
Melvin said if Snell feels good, the following step might be one other bullpen session or a duel with some hitters. A rehab start before rejoining the Giants' rotation can also be an option.
“He has to do something, whether he's facing batters, in a simulated situation or in a game, he has to do something where he's facing batters in a game-like situation,” Melvin said.
Snell was injured on June 2 in the course of the Giants' home game against the New York Yankees and was placed on the 15-day IL the following day with a strained left groin.
Snell, the reigning National League Cy Young winner, signed a two-year, $62 million contract with the Giants as a free agent on March 27. But he’s 0-3 with a 9.51 ERA in six starts for San Francisco this season.
MELVIN ON HARRISON: Left-hander Kyle Harrison is scheduled to start out the ultimate game of the series against the Angels on Sunday, hoping for his first win since May 18. In his last 4 starts, Harrison has a record of 0-2 and a 4.84 ERA, although he has only three walks and 19 strikeouts in that point.
In his second major league season, Harrison has thrown a complete of 77 1/3 innings in 14 starts this season, rating second on the Giants' pitching staff behind Logan Webb (92 1/3 innings).
When asked about Harrison's maturity, Melvin said, “He's pretty determined about what he wants to accomplish. He's going to go through ups and downs and some games will be efficient and some won't, but he tries to go out there every day and get deep in the game.”
“That was his attitude from the beginning.”
Harrison threw just 77 pitches in 6 1/3 innings in his last start on Monday against the Astros, allowing just 4 hits and one earned run within the Giants' 4-3 win.
“When you give him a certain number of starts in a season, you have to do some things differently,” Melvin said. “You have to make some adjustments on the mound. Certain things work on a certain day and not on another, and you have to work on the deficiencies you suspect from the beginning, and I think he's done a great job of that.”
“Everything went really well for him at his last start, he had all three throws under control pretty well.”
TRANSACTION: The Giants signed catcher Logan Porter from the Kansas City Royals on Friday for money considerations. Porter was assigned to Triple-A Sacramento.
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