SF Giants place Johnny Cueto and Alex Wood on COVID IL

The SF Giants received some bad news before the start of their series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday. Starting pitchers Johnny Cueto and Alex Wood were both placed on the COVID-19 injured list. In a press conference with reporters, manager Gabe Kapler revealed that Wood has tested positive for COVID-19 and is dealing with several symptoms. On the other hand, Cueto tested negative on Monday but was exhibiting some symptoms and is being isolated from the team for precautionary reasons.

Wood and Cueto are not the first Giants to be placed on the COVID IL recently. The Giants placed infielder Donovan Solano on the COVID IL week when he tested positive. Solano has been recovering in isolation in a New York hotel since his positive test.

SF Giants pitchers Alex Wood and Johnny Cueto were placed on the COVID-19 IL.

While the impact on the Giants immediate prospects is far less important than the health of members of the organization, Cueto and Wood’s absence forced the Giants to utilize a bullpen game on Monday. If Cueto no longer exhibits symptoms and tests negative again tomorrow, he could make his scheduled start. However, if not, the Giants will likely turn to recently acquired lefty José Quintana.

The Giants are one of the most vaccinated teams in MLB, eclipsing the 85% vaccine threshold in May, limiting the restrictions on the rest of the team and those who have had close contact with Wood. However, while the Giants organization should be less impacted by a single positive COVID-19 case because of their high vaccination rate, that doesn’t mean they have nothing to worry about. Vaccines are undeniably effective at preventing the spread and severity of COVID-19 cases, but our understanding of breakthrough cases remains relatively limited. Last week, the CDC director acknowledged that vaccinated people can still spread the virus.

The SF Giants are already without three members of their active roster after Donovan Solano and Alex Wood tested positive for COVID-19 and Johnny Cueto exhibited symptoms of the virus. Hopefully, both can recover quickly and not spread the virus to others.