San Francisco Giants to push back return of Mike Leake, Ryan Vogelsong gets Tuesday start

Mike Leake’s time with the San Francisco Giants has started off on the wrong foot, and he has a lot of work to do to earn the fans’ respect. According to Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area, the Giants decided that it would be best for the team to delay his return:

Giants waiting on Leake. Vogelsong starts tomorrow, Cain on Wednesday.

— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) August 18, 2015

The Giants expect Leake to be back in another competitive series against the Pittsburgh Pirates this weekend, and his spot in the rotation would be this Sunday night in a nationally televised game on ESPN.

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Leake pitched very solid in his first start for San Francisco as he went six shutout innings with five strikeouts against the Texas Rangers before giving up a two-run home run to Josh Hamilton. San Francisco would go on to lose 2-1. Just eight days after acquiring the right-hander from Cincinnati, Leake was placed on the DL on August 7 (retroactive to August 3).

Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle reported on August 14 that Leake’s spot in the rotation would be the second game in the St. Louis Cardinals series:

Mike Leake would be eligible to pitch Tuesday night's game in St. Louis, and he's still on schedule to do so.

— Bruce Jenkins (@Bruce_Jenkins1) August 15, 2015

Apparently not.

The bright side of the story is that this is not considered a setback for the 27-year-old. The Giants simply want to give Leake more time to heal his hamstring. Lower body injuries can be frustrating ordeals. It’s possible to play through muscle strains, but pushing them too hard can lead to more lengthy DL stints. This situation is no different with Leake, as Pavlovic also said that Leake could pitch tomorrow if he had to.

Leake said he can pitch, but can only run at 60-65 percent. Concern is injury getting much worse while fielding/running.

— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) August 18, 2015

As Pavlovic mentioned, Ryan Vogelsong is set to make another spot start in replacement of Leake on Tuesday, while Matt Cain is scheduled to pitch on Wednesday. Vogelsong has pitched decent in his last two starts, as he is 1-1 with a 4.00 ERA. Vogey is pitching against the Cardnials for the first time since the 2014 NLCS when he pitched just three innings and surrendered four runs.

San Francisco fell to the Cards on Monday night in St. Louis, losing 2-1 despite having several opportunities to take Game 1 of the series.