The Giants have re-signed left-hander Thomas Szapucki to a minor league deal, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The club had just non-tendered him a couple of weeks ago. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Sacramento for the time being.
Szapucki, now 27, didn’t pitch in any official capacity in 2023. He experienced some elbow discomfort in the spring which eventually led to surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome in May. He stayed on the 60-day injured list all year until he was non-tendered a couple of weeks back. That sent him into free agency without him being exposed to waivers, which allowed the Giants to re-sign him.
Prior to the lost season, Szapucki had appeared in 12 major league games between the 2021 and 2022 seasons. He was with the Mets until coming to the Giants as part of the Darin Ruf trade. He has an 8.68 earned run average in that time, though that’s obviously a very small sample. In Triple-A in 2022, he tossed 72 1/3 innings with a 3.11 ERA and 33.7% strikeout rate.
His health will be a factor going forward, as the track record for pitchers who have dealt with TOS is mixed. Merrill Kelly bounced back without seeming to miss a beat, whereas pitchers like Stephen Strasburg, Matt Harvey and Joe Ross weren’t so lucky. Back in July, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post looked at that disparity and highlighted that there are two different types of TOS. Kelly had venous TOS whereas Strasburg had neurogenic TOS.
The Giants will be hoping that Szapucki can get back to health and back in form. He showed big strikeout stuff in the minors in 2022, which is surely part of the reason why they acquired him from the Mets, for whom he was a top 5-20 prospect on his way up to the big leagues. If the southpaw can earn his way back onto the roster, he still has an option season and just over a year of service time.
Hope the kid stays healthy. He has good strike out stuff
He does. He was right there with Waites pre injury. I was hoping he would take the same route back.
Farhan Zaidi Doing Big things in Frisco. WORLD SERIES BOUND
This joke gets funnier each time! I’m proud of you ;}
cainer18, Yeah, expect more of this hilarity. We’ll no doubt see this repeated with every minor league signing.
@jean For sure. The joke has been regurgitated for 11 months, so why stop now?
I wonder how long it takes you to log into each one of your accounts to like your own post..
The Giants have won three World Series since the Hankes last made it. Tell me how you really feel.
Well, which TOS did Szapucki have? The venous or the neurogenic?
@davemlaw His problem was “left arm neuropathy,” suggesting the latter. This article was hopelessly unclear.
I think it’s the thoracic outlet surgery.
Ha ha. Yeah that type of TOS.
Not to be confused with 27 Chumpy, that’s a POS.
Let’s be honest–the Giants just want to stay in control of uniform marketing.
You could do worse. Fill up the farm with these guys and some will give you 30 competent innings before their next two year surgery rehab.
Just when you thought the stove couldn’t get any hotter….
Hotter than Thai p****
I’ve never had Thai pizza. Is it good?
This guy has nothing on Marc Rzepczinski, the original “scrabble”.
You could at least spell his name right if you’re gonna make a comment about him. Rzepczynski
Hubbs, Spelling his name wrong/not knowing how to spell it is half the fun and maintains the mystique though right? Manny meant well.
The Usual Bandwagon Cry Babies on the message Board, Moan and Groan after the Fact.
Think Positive, they’ll Ink a Big Name (Eventually)
A novel by 9er78.
More like a Novel Approach,Mr.Dim Witt.
Chapman or bellinger don’t count
Wouldn’t hate it if followed up by some quality trades. Yaz and Davis would be expendable.
Ramos & Bart as well.
Break the internet…
I thought Ken Szotkiewicz was the original scrabble.
Giants Hot stove is cooking now. maybe we will be looking at them signing a 33-35 year old who is on the downside of career next.
I love it when teams are criticized for what they haven’t yet done. There’s nothing like equanimity.
Next week should get interesting.
Shohie this guy will be your best friend Tomas. Is very friendly
Wow big news.
So, which type of the syndrome did Szapucki experience?
Got him