SF Giants injury updates: bad news on both Schmitt and Encarnacion

The SF Giants remained remarkably healthy for the first few weeks of the season, but that injury luck took a bit of a hit in the past few days. Unfortunately, the team got some rough injury updates on both Casey Schmitt and Jerar Encarnacion.

SF Giants get bad injury news on Casey Schmitt and Jerar Encarnacion

Schmitt was the first Giant to go on the injured list during the regular season. He has a left oblique strain that is reportedly going to keep him on the shelf for about a month. Obliques can be a tricky area because they are easy to injure again if you are not fully healed, so the Giants will probably be cautious with his return. He is projected to return sometime in late May assuming there are no setbacks so let's hope he has a speedy recovery.

After Schmitt went on the IL, San Francisco recalled infielder David Villar from Triple-A Sacramento after he was hot at the plate to begin the season. This is a very big opportunity for Villar especially with how badly first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. has struggled at the plate to begin the year.

To create space on the 40-man roster, the Giants moved right-handed slugger Jerar Encarnacion onto the 60-day IL. Encarnacion fractured a finger in his left hand trying to make a diving catch towards the end of spring training. It was a shame that he got hurt when he did because he was swinging the bat very well in Arizona and was looking like a prime candidate to see time as the team's designated hitter and even at first base. He underwent surgery on his hand at the end of March.

Encarnacion is projected to return in June. One hopes his long layoff will not harm his timing too much at the plate. We know the Giants' offense can run cold at times, so having an extra bat like Encarnacion available could pay big dividends for San Francisco. It is just unfortunate that the earliest we will see him back in action is in June after the team moved him to the 60-day IL.

The only other player on the IL for the Giants is backup catcher Tom Murphy. the veteran backstop has spent most of his time on the Giants the past two seasons nursing various injuries, so we will have to see if he even plays for the Giants ever again. He is dealing with a back issue that has him on the 60-day IL and is projected to come back at some point before the All-Star Break, but we will have to see how the Giants choose to handle the backup catcher spot on their roster going forward.

So, the injury news for San Francisco is not great, but thankfully the team has been very healthy for the most part this season. Let's hope that they can continue to keep most of their guys on the field as their three players on the IL get back as soon as possible.