SF Giants get positive update on reliever after elbow sprain news

The SF Giants got a bit of scary news on left-handed reliever Erik Miller last week as he went on the IL with an elbow sprain in his throwing arm. However, the latest update is a bit more promising as he hopes to return in five weeks.

This latest news comes via Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle on social media. She said Miller had an MRI that revealed a UCL sprain, which is obviously better than the worst-case scenario that would require Tommy John surgery.

SF Giants get positive health update on Erik Miller

Of course, a UCL sprain is still not ideal. Any sort of elbow injury to a pitcher is concerning and one hopes it does not get worse for Miller because he has become an integral part of the bullpen.

In 36 appearances on the season, Miller has a 1.50 ERA in 30 innings pitched. He has 22 strikeouts compared to 20 walks which is not an ideal ratio and means he may have had a little good luck, but he has still been effective at working through traffic this season.

Miller is really the only high-leverage left-handed reliever that manager Bob Melvin had coming into this season. He was the only left-handed reliever the team had in the bullpen for a while, but they now have Joey Lucchesi and recent call-up and old friend Scott Alexander.

Neither pitcher is as reliable as Miller though, at least at this point. Lucchesi has typically been either a starter or long relief pitcher in his career and Alexander has been mainly a middle relief guy rather than a late-inning guy.

How the two pitchers perform this next month could play a large role in determining whether the front office goes out and makes a trade for a lefty reliever before the trade deadline.

San Francisco's bullpen has been amazing this season and the efforts of their relievers are a large reason why the team has had success. The Giants have a collective 2.96 team ERA from their bullpen this season which is the best in all of MLB.

The bullpen will be represented by Randy Rodríguez at the All-Star Game as he has been the best member of the bullpen with a 0.69 ERA.

Still, Miller is a very important part of San Francisco's bullpen so let's hope that optimistic time frame of five weeks is accurate since they will need Miller in the second half.