San Francisco Giants: Injuries were Unusually Absent this Spring

Spring Training is officially over, and the San Francisco Giants are gearing up for the regular season.

However, there seems to be one thing missing from this spring: Injuries. Sure, now that I mentioned it, the entire San Francisco Giants roster will sustain an injury on Opening Day.

The Giants have experienced an unusually high volume of injuries in recent seasons. With an aging roster, the “what if” scenario always revolves around health. So far, the Giants have remained healthy.

During the 2017 Spring Training, Will Smith sustained an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery.

In March of 2018, Madison Bumgarner, Jeff Samardzija, and Mark Melancon either sustained injuries or opened the season on the injured list. Following this, it was essentially an avalanche of injuries that did not end.

The injury front has been unusually quiet so far in 2019. Pablo Sandoval had a minor oblique injury, and Brandon Crawford seems to get off to a slow start each spring.

Buster Posey and Steven Duggar were ahead of schedule following their season-ending surgeries in 2018. Both are said to be pleased with their progress.

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In the case of Posey, the Giants will likely need to manage his workload, especially early in the season.

With the exception of Johnny Cueto, no key Giants player will begin the season on the injured list. A lot can change between now and Opening Day, but if the Giants do put a player on the injured list to start the season, it will likely be for a minor ailment.

Finishing Spring Training without experiencing a major injury is not only unusual, but it is a major accomplishment as well.

Several teams are already down a key contributor or two, but the San Francisco Giants are not one of those teams.

As last season began, the Giants injury list piled up quickly. It was an ominous sign of things to come.

As of right now, that ominous sign is absent from the Giants camp. The team continues to show confidence in its aging core with health being the one factor that can make or break the season.

The projected win-loss record for the Giants is not too encouraging. They have not been good for a couple of seasons now, so that part is not surprising.

If their key players are healthy, the Giants could stand to exceed the projected win totals. A healthy Spring Training does not signify anything about the regular season, but the Giants have been snakebitten by injuries in the past. So, a spring without major injuries is at least a good first impression.