SF Giants reunite with veteran pitcher after brief stint with the Guardians

The SF Giants shipped veteran pitcher Spencer Howard in a trade with the Cleveland Guardians last month. He was placed on waivers shortly thereafter, cleared, and elected free agency before reuniting with the Giants on a minor league deal.

SF Giants reunite with veteran pitcher after brief stint with the Guardians

Howard has been assigned to the Sacramento River Cats. I was watching the River Cats game on Thursday and noticed a new name on the roster. To my surprise, it was Howard. The right-handed pitcher is local to California, so returning to the Giants organization made some level of sense.

Plus, there could be an opportunity to get added back to the Giants' active roster as the bullpen has been taxed heavily in 2024.

Howard began the season as a non-roster invitee and impressed the Giants coaching staff during the Cactus League. He did not make the club out of camp, but pitched to a 5.90 ERA with 57 strikeouts in 39.2 frames with Sacrmento before getting called up by San Francisco.

His stint with San Francisco was a mixed bag. He had a couple of good outings offset by a few bad ones. Overall, he registered a 5.63 ERA in seven outings with the Giants. San Francisco placed him on waivers at the end of June, but Cleveland worked out a deal to acquire the 28-year-old pitcher.

Howard made only two appearances with the Guardians before he was placed on waivers again.He now joins a River Cats team that has posted a 59-52 record in the Pacific Coast League.

The Giants made a couple of other moves as well. They signed a pair of pitchers in Cam Pferrer and Helcris Olivarez to minor league deals. Pferrer has been assigned to the San Jose Giants, whereas
Olivarez was sent to the ACL Giants. The ACL season is done but teams still hold scrimmages.

This will be Pferrer's first stint in affifliated ball. He appeared with the Florence Y'Alls of the Frontier League where he tallied a 1.50 ERA with 23 strikeouts against six walks in 18 innings of work.

On the other hand, Olivarez has pitched for both the Colorado Rockies and Boston Red Sox organizations. In parts of six minor league seasons, he has recorded a 4.22 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 10.6 K/9, and a 1.76 SO/W rate. The lefty pitcher will likely be assigned to a higher level once his work in the ACL is done.