On Wednesday May 21, San Francisco Giants’ starter Matt Cain felt a twinge in his hamstring during the third inning in his start against the Colorado Rockies. He was taken out of the game and replaced by Yusmeiro Petit.
Last week the Giants were optimistic about Cain who was diagnosed with a grade 1 hamstring strain. The team also lost reliever Santiago Casilla in the same game to a similar injury. Casilla was, however, immediately put on the disabled list because his diagnosis was a grade 2 strain.
At the time Bleacher Report reported, via Alex Palovic of the San Jose Mercury News, that Cain would get treatment but hadn’t yet been ruled out of his next start. Now, that does not seem to be the case.
The Giants reported Friday via Twitter that Petit will once again take over for Cain, this time on Saturday in Cain’s next scheduled start.
Yusmeiro Petit to start tomorrow in place of Cain, who will be placed on the 15-day DL. #SFGiants
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) May 30, 2014
Cain’s latest stint on the disabled list will be retroactive to May 22. This is Cain’s second stint on the disabled list. His previous time on the disabled list was due to a laceration on his finger which he injured while making a sandwich.
According to ESPN.com Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy expects Cain to be ready to make his next start on June 6 against the New York Mets. He went on to say that had it been September, Cain probably would have been able to make his Saturday start.
Since it is not yet September, the team decided to exercise caution with Cain by placing him on the disabled list. Cain is 1-3 on the year in eight starts with a 3.66 ERA. Petit, who is a normally a reliever, is 3-2 with 5.08 ERA on the year. He’s appeared in 14 games, four of which have been starts.