SF Giants reinstate 8 from IL, fill roster with decisions looming

Last week, the SF Giants made a number of roster moves and decisions as they prepare to attempt to compete for a playoff spot in 2023, including both claiming two players off waivers and losing two players in the same fashion, removing five from the 40-man roster and adding a minor-league player to the roster. Furthermore, they extended one-year contract offers to two standouts from 2022, Carlos Rodon and Joc Pederson.

Many of those transactions helped set up the roster for a glut of names being officially added back on: per Major League Baseball rules, the Giants took their eight players on the 60-day injured list and transferred them to the 40-man roster for the offseason.

During the MLB season, every team has a number of players who suffer injuries that keep them out of action for months or even end their season. Often, instead of going on the short-term injured lists of seven, 10 or 15 days, those players are put on the 60-day list. Once the 60 days are up, if the player is healthy they are taken off and added back to an active roster in the majors or minors.

One benefit to players going on the 60-day IL is opening up a 40-man roster spot, allowing for a healthy player to be available if the big-league team needs the help. But once the season is over, there's no need for depth on the field for a few months and the long-term IL goes away - meaning the team needs to find a place to put the players who were on it.

In the Giants' case, they decided to add all eight players to the 40-man roster for the time being. That might not last long for some, as Tuesday evening represents the deadline for MLB front offices to add minor leaguers with a certain amount of years under their belt to the 40-man roster or risk losing them in December's Rule 5 draft.

Two veteran starting pitchers activated

Among the eight players added back to the roster, the most notable names are left-handed pitcher Alex Wood and right-hander Anthony DeSclafani. Both starting pitchers and important contributors to San Francisco's 2021 success, they had very different 2022 campaigns. DeSclafani was hurt for much of the year and shut down for surgery in July after pitching just 19 innings, while Wood had a 5.10 ERA in 26 starts before missing the last month-plus of the season.

Of the other six players, four spent time with the big club in 2022: pitchers Sam Long, Mauricio Llovera and Gregory Santos and infielder Donovan Walton. Right-hander Sam Delaplane and infielder Colton Welker, both pickups from other organizations in 2022 while beset with injuries, round out the group.