San Francisco Giants right-hander Tristan Beck has undergone vascular surgery after being diagnosed with an aneurysm in his upper arm. On Tuesday, the Giants announced that the surgery was successful and Beck won't even throw a baseball for eight weeks (via The Athletic's Andrew Baggarly). As a possible point of reference, New York Yankees catcher Ben Rortvedt underwent surgery last February to repair an aneurysm in his left shoulder and did not make his season debut until late April.
Beck, 27, had been expected to break camp as a member of the Giants rotation after impressing last year. In 33 appearances, three of them starts, he compiled a 3.92 ERA (108 ERA+) and a 3.24 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Beck was tasked with navigating at least three innings of work in 14 of his 33 outings, meaning he wasn't deployed like a typical single-inning reliever despite his paltry number of starts.
Beck's injury is a rough blow to a Giants rotation that already appeared thin. Beyond Logan Webb and prospect Kyle Harrison, San Francisco is forecasted to start Jordan Hicks (a reliever for most of his career) and Keaton Winn (recovering from his own injury scare). Veterans Alex Cobb and Robbie Ray will miss the start of the year while rehabbing from surgeries: Cobb's being of the hip variety, Ray's being Tommy John.
The Giants were already rumored to be interested in left-handed starter Blake Snell. When asked about potential free agents who could be options for the Giants rotation in Beck's absence, manager Bob Melvin joked with reporters by saying "all of them." Fellow southpaw Jordan Montgomery and All-Star righty Michael Lorenzen are two other free-agent options the Giants could pursue, should they find Snell's ask unreasonable.
Internally, the Giants don't have a great crop of candidates -- if they did, their rotation would be in a better state. Kai-Wei Teng and Trevor McDonald are the only other starters on their 40-player roster. McDonald has never pitched above High-A. They could turn to one of their non-roster invitees for innings -- perhaps onetime Oakland Athletics prospect Daulton Jeffries, or former third-round pick Mason Black. Lefty Carson Whisenhunt could be an option at some point this spring, too, and Melvin mentioned Sean Hjelle, who has been used in long relief for San Francisco.
If the Giants are serious about making noise in the National League West, though, it seems more likely than not that they'll have to add to their staff before Opening Day.
