SAN FRANCISCO — Under Farhan Zaidi, any spot on the Giants’ 40-man roster is a valuable commodity, never vacant for long, so you knew they were feeling the effects of multiple roster crunches with their move before Sunday afternoon’s series finale against the Dodgers.
In desperate need of innings, they activated Landen Roupp early from his minor-league rehab assignment. In a corresponding move to get him on the active roster, they designated Spencer Howard for assignment, leaving their 40-man roster at 39 — with more openings needed to be created in the coming weeks.
Roupp was originally scheduled to throw three innings Monday in his fourth rehab appearance since a monthlong absence with an elbow strain, but after the Giants used seven pitchers in their 11-inning loss to the Dodgers the previous night, they asked him to do that work at the major-league level.
“You’re going to see him in this game today at some point,” said Melvin, who tabbed Spencer Bivens to start their second straight bullpen game.
Howard worked 2⅔ innings Saturday, allowing six runs on six hits and two walks to raise his ERA to 5.63 in six appearances.
“Look, he’s one of the guys that can give us some innings,” Melvin said. “Obviously as an organization, we didn’t want to have to (DFA him). But today is kind of an extreme day based on what we’re dealing with. He threw 50-some pitches yesterday and wasn’t going to be able to pitch today, so it’s unfortunately a byproduct of that.”
While Melvin said the Giants “hope” that the 27-year-old former top prospect from San Luis Obispo clears waivers and they are able to retain him, Howard represents only one of a handful of decisions that will need to be made as the club activates its second-half reinforcements from the 60-day injured list.
“We’re always thinking about that,” Melvin said. “When we’re up against making decisions then, we will.”
Alex Cobb and Robbie Ray have each progressed to making rehab starts on their ways back from surgical procedures and are expected to be ready to bolster a depleted starting rotation not long after the All-Star break. Tristan Beck has started throwing off a mound and isn’t far behind.
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Should the Giants determine their bullpen, which has thrown the most innings in the majors, could also use a boost, right-hander Austin Warren (Tommy John) and lefty Ethan Small (oblique) are expected to be options in the second-half, too, but each reliever will also have to be activated from the 60-day IL.
In case you’ve lost count, that’s five players with only one current opening.
At Triple-A, the Giants also have a pair of pitching prospects on the cusp of the majors.
Left-hander Reggie Crawford, their first selection in the 2022 draft, has been on fast track through the minor-leagues this season with the intent of adding him to the major-league bullpen at some point, and while fellow lefty Carson Whisenhunt was recently passed over for Hayden Birdsong, the 23-year-old 2022 second-round pick could be up at anytime, too.