The Giants have turned to Braxton Roxby for bullpen help, selecting the right-hander’s contract and opening a roster spot by moving Adrian Houser to the 15-day injured list with a right forearm strain.
Carson Whisenhunt also came off the 40-man picture, with the club transferring the left-hander to the 60-day IL after this week’s diagnosis of a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow. It was reported earlier today that he will undergo surgery. It’s not yet clear if that will be full Tommy John surgery or an alternative but he is going to miss the remainder of this season regardless, so his transfer is not a surprise.
Houser started yesterday’s game but left in the second inning with what looked like an injury. The Giants don’t yet know how long he’ll be out, though the absence should last at least a couple of weeks.
With those injuries and others, plus the club dealing Tyler Mahle and Robbie Ray before the deadline, the rotation has been stretched thin. Logan Webb, Landen Roupp and Blade Tidwell are holding down three spots.
Two more still need to be filled.
Anthony Molina threw 52 pitches in relief yesterday and could be available for heavier work again in a few days. Matt Wilkinson is on the 40-man roster but was just optioned two days ago, and that assignment needs to last 15 days unless he is directly replacing a player going on the IL.
Joe Whitman and Cesar Perdomo are among the non-roster choices. The Giants could also go outside the organization, with the waiver wire and free agency both in play.
Michael Lorenzen and Miles Mikolas were recently released. Zack Littell and Trevor Williams were each designated for assignment in recent days.
Roxby is not a rotation fix. He’s been a reliever throughout his minor league career, and the Giants got him in January of 2025 in the deal that sent Taylor Rogers to Cincinnati. He was originally a Reds farmhand.
The right-hander has usually missed bats in the minors, though his strikeout rate has backed up this season. From 2021 to 2025, he worked 231 2/3 innings with a 4.12 earned run average, a 30.8% strikeout rate and a 10.4% walk rate.
This year, he has logged 57 innings across 36 Triple-A games with a 4.11 ERA. His walk rate has climbed to 11.1%, while his strikeout rate sits at 22.6%.
FanGraphs ranked him as the Giants’ #49 prospect a couple of months ago, pointing to the unusual movement on his four-seamer thanks to his lower slot. He also mixes in a slider, cutter, two-seamer and the occasional changeup.
Because this is his first major league call-up, he still has a full slate of options and could bounce between Triple-A and San Francisco frequently. For now, he gives the Giants another arm in the bullpen while they sort out the bigger issue: how to piece together the rotation.
In Other News...
Giants Rotation Suddenly Has Another Problem Fans Feared
The Giants were already bracing for a rotation hit after Carson Whisenhunt was announced to need Tommy John surgery for a torn UCL, and then Adrian Houser left a game against the Reds after just 1.1 innings because of an apparent injury. It was the kind of sequence that can turn a pitching staffs margin for error into a week-to-week concern, especially for a club that has been forced to keep reshuffling arms.
San Francisco had already moved quickly by calling up Spencer Bivens to fill Whisenhunts roster spot, but Housers status now creates another question the Giants may have to answer sooner rather than later. If the injury proves serious, Tristan Beck and Matt Wilkinson look like logical names to step into the opening, even if the club would clearly prefer not to be making another rotation decision this soon. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Have Two Triple A Bats Facing A Tough Path Up
Bo Davidson and Scott Bandura have given the Giants something to think about in Triple-A, especially with the way both left-handed-hitting outfield prospects have handled themselves at the plate and on the bases. For a club that is always balancing present needs with future upside, that kind of production is the sort of thing that can quietly force its way into the conversation, even if the big league roster is already crowded.
The problem is the path above them is not exactly clear. San Francisco already has plenty of left-handed bats in the outfield mix, which can make it hard for either player to find steady playing time if a call-up comes, and a promotion may end up depending more on roster movement or an injury than on performance alone. For now, the Giants can keep letting both develop in Triple-A while waiting for the opening that makes the most sense. [Read more 🡒]
Willy Adames Just Put The Giants In A Tough Shortstop Spot
Willy Adames has given the Giants a late-season dilemma they would rather not have at shortstop. The veteran infield anchor is dealing with a moderate UCL sprain in his non-throwing arm, and because he plans to seek a second medical opinion, the club is still sorting through what comes next and how much it makes sense to push for a return.
For San Francisco, the question is no longer just about getting Adames back on the field, but whether there is enough time and enough benefit to justify it if the medical picture stays murky. If surgery ends up being the route, his first season in orange and black will close with a full workload of 121 games, leaving the Giants to weigh both his health and his place in the lineup as they look ahead. [Read more 🡒]