Giants closer Brian Wilson is officially out for the season and will likely undergo his second Tommy John surgery, according to Andrew Baggarly of CSN Bay Area. Baggarly adds that Wilson's elbow troubles date back to a flexor strain suffered in 2010, and while that issue didn't involve his UCL, this current injury does. Wilson knew he'd injured himself significantly on a pitch to Tyler Colvin, but wanted his final pitch to be one that saved Madison Bumgarner's win (which it did).
Since taking over as the Giants' full-time closer in 2008, Wilson has pitched to a 3.04 ERA over 266 1/3 innings en route to 164 saves. He's posted a strong 10.1 K/9 to go along with a 3.8 BB/9 in that time, and led the National League in 2010 with 48 saves. He plans to spend the season with his team, and in his usual joking manner, told reporters the injury was only a minor setback because he plans on pitching forever.
With Wilson on the shelf, the Giants plan to go with a committee to close games, using a combination of Sergio Romo, Santiago Casilla, and Javier Lopez to close games. Fantasy players can follow along with the latest updates on Wilson and other closers by following @Closernews on Twitter.
Brent Schuber
everyone is getting tommy john this year….
FRED
Why is it that these prima donnas are hurt and lie about it for a year or better and the managers kiss their royal behinds….no one seems to give a hoot about hurting their team anymore just themselves….release these clowns as soon as possible along with the forgiving managers.
Travis White
Tommy John. He’s so hot right now
FS54 2
must be one great sale.
sad to hear about Wilson. Giants should be fine without him.
Encarnacion's Parrot
Yes, but.. can he tie a double windsor knot?
Paul Shailor
Hate to see so many closers go down.
Tony DiQuattro
Wilson has that “I’m fine coach” mentality that really does no one any good.
notsureifsrs
sucks, but romo might be better than wilson anyway
levendis
I wouldnt go as far as that, but Romo has the chance to fill in very nicely.
nm344
And who’s going to replace Romo?
giantsfan4life
Heath Hembree. At least until he wins the closer role.
BLB25
bullpen depth is an issue the Giants are pretty unlikely to struggle with. Hembree is probably close to ready to contribute at the MLB level and Casilla, Romo, Affeldt, Lopez and Otero are all adequate late inning options right now.
EdinsonPickle
I wish him the best. He’s one of the fun personalities in the game, and he’s a good closer. Hopefully, after this surgery is all said and done, he can move back to a form closer to his 2010 season.
Ian_Smell
Hanrahan to Giants at deadline? Anyone, anyone?
bucs_lose_again
Brandon Belt, please…
mistgl
Why would we trade for a closer when our in house options are better than half the teams in baseballs current option? That, and our top pitching prospect is our closer of the future and is currently in AAA.
User 4245925809
“Why would we trade for a closer when our in house options are better”
I hope u ain’t including (snicker, snicker) Javy Lopez in that lot.. Stick him back into the AL, he needs a refresher course on how good he really is…
mistgl
Yes, I am so uneducated about baseball that I consider a career LOOGY as a good fit for fill in closer. I couldn’t have possibly been refereeing to Romo….
User 4245925809
It was a joke…
Javy and that delivery of his is something to behold. really am surprised he has stayed as effective as long as he has with the league switch tho and hitters have not figured him out.
Okajima is another thought would have done well for 2-3 years if he had moved/switched leagues with his funky delivery, but he just went back to Japan after NY released him.
bucs_lose_again
Did I suggest the trade? No, I did not.
owlssc
Half the teams? You mean all of them?
gmenfan 2
Dream on.
letsgogiants
I could also see Huston Street being a target, given that the Padres are in a rebuilding mode and would be quick to trade him for a couple of prospects. Street has experience closing and would provide depth to the bullpen, that is if Hembree isn’t ready by then to close games (I could see him up in the majors pretty soon, but I think it would be wise to start him in a set-up role and have success before closing games.)
gmenfan 2
Same thing crossed my mind as well.
EdinsonPickle
I wouldn’t give up Belt or any other top prospects for a closer when Romo can handle the job just fine. I think the Giants’ bullpen is deep enough to handle this blow, and if not, they’ll probably go for a set up man rather than a closer.
mistgl
Honestly, I think they bring Hembree in to test out the set-up role before they pull the trigger on a trade, and might even let him attempt some easier save situations.
Essentially the same thing the Braves did with Kimbrel, and the CWS are doing with Reed.
rovert22044
We’ll give you Brett Myers for a bag of peanuts!
55saveslives
No closer has more saves since 2008 than Brian Wilson. Heath Hembree is the heir apparent. He has flat out dominated in the minors.
Good Luck on a speedy recovery Brian! Thanks for helping us get the ring!
RawlingsHeart
Heath Hembree anyone?
jalora
Romo will not close. The Giants do not feel like he can pitch two days in a row. Casilla will be the anointed one.
blueniner
Romo is also one hanging slider from a blown save…….
WonderboyRooney10
Really unfortunate news. But maybe the silver lining in all of this will be that he finally shaves the beard. Its time…
Snoochies8
agreed
melonis_rex
Or dyes it blue. That would just be entertaining.
gmenfan 2
Comes into his next outing sporting a fluorescent orange beard that’s down to his belly button and responding to the nickname “The Gnome.”
bobbybaseball
But the real questions is, what happens to the beard while he rehabs? Does he continue to grow it out or does he shave that thing? Bet there’s a family of four living in there by now…
Wes Whitenack
Gotta call up Seattle, we’ll give you League if we could get something nice in return.
owlssc
We also have Romo, who is better than League.
55saveslives
If he shaves his beard, I hope they sell it with cards like the jersey swatches. lol
Runtime
I had Farnsworth, Wilson, and Bell as my RP in my H2H Fantasy League…
Guess you can consider me never winning a match in the Saves category…
Matthew
If you know you’ve hurt yourself isn’t it kind of irresponsible to try to finish the save? Didn’t he risk giving up the lead with a couple of successive wrong motions? If my backup was Kevin Gregg I could see trying to finish, but there are like six top tier relievers behind him in SF.
mmiller54
I am so sorry this happened, even as a die-hard dbacks fan, I admire Wilson’s comedy and ability and am sorry for him.
Clayton Wilson
That apology seemed pretty genuine……
You sure this wasn’t your fault?
owlssc
I was thinking, if Brian Wilson didn’t have the Wilson beard, fun, etc. then SF could trade him for Brandon Phillips. Imagine if that happened. First the Reds’ original closer (Ryan Madson) went out for the season, then their replacement closer went out for the season too.
FRED
My gut is churning…I say if a player is playing hurt and knowing it they should be fined dearly for hurting their teams chances….along with sitting their butts for a year…
Freddy Sanchez is the next….mark my word…the managers play ring around the nosey with these prima donnas, while sucking down the big bucks…I do beleive the FREAK is one of these clowns.
blueniner
Im starting to wonder if Lincecum isnt 100%,his velocity has dropped big time. Lincecum doesnt look electric anymore, his body language looks to be that of am unconfident pitcher.