Blade Tidwell injury is now part of a troubling pattern for SF Giants

The SF Giants won 5-2 over the Minnesota Twins on Monday night, but the team lost another pitcher to injury. Blade Tidwell left the game in the fourth inning with what was described as “elbow discomfort.” He is set to undergo testing on Tuesday, but if this is another major elbow injury it is part of a frightening pattern this season.

San Francisco has already lost three young pitchers to major elbow injuries this year. Hayden Birdsong had Tommy John surgery back in March, Trevor McDonald underwent Tommy John surgery in August, and Carson Whisenhunt underwent Tommy John surgery earlier in September. Plus, Randy Rodríguez had Tommy John last year.

One never wants to assume the worst with Tidwell especially since there’s a chance he could have a similar injury to Adrian Houser who was put on the IL with a forearm strain but shouldn’t need major injury to correct his ailment.

Still, in the event that Tidwell does need Tommy John surgery, that would be four young pitchers who all had to go under the knife in the same season. What is to blame for this? Bad luck? Did someone make a wish on a monkey’s paw?

Giants may just be victims of bad luck when it comes to injuries to young pitchers

It feels unfair to blame the new coaching staff or regime for this. Injuries are a part of baseball and the Giants have actually been pretty fortunate with major arm injuries to pitchers compared to the rest of MLB. Something tells me pitching coach Justin Meccage hasn’t been teaching pitchers to do some sort of new risky maneuver that puts their UCLs in jeopardy. 

One might think the Giants are letting their younger arms pitch more innings per season under the current regime which could be putting their arms under more stress, but that’s not necessarily the case with all of them. Birdsong pitched 100 and 2/3 innings in the minors in 2023, 129 and 1/3 innings between the minors and majors in 2024, and 104 and 2/3 total innings in 2025.

McDonald went from 89 total innings in 2024 to 157 total innings in 2025 and pitched 85 total innings in 2026 before he had his injury so his jump in innings was the most significant. Whisenhunt had 110 innings in 2024, 131 innings in 2025, and 117 innings before his injury in 2026.

As for Tidwell, he had 122 innings in 2024, 112 innings last season, and 129 innings this season before his injury. Plus, he came from a different organization in the New York Mets so San Francisco has only been developing him the last year. 

There’s clearly not some major innings spike with all of these pitchers and if they did increase year-to-year it makes sense because they’re all thought of as starters and they need to build up their arm strength to be able to throw 150 innings or more per season.

Perhaps the 2026 Giants are simply cursed and that’s the cause of all these injuries. That may be as good an explanation as any but it is a troubling pattern especially since the Giants’ pitching staff needs to improve greatly next season and all these injuries are likely going to force them to turn to the trade market and free agency to address the lack of talent which might be a positive in the long run.

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