Young SF Giants pitcher begins rehab assignment after lengthy absence

The Sacramento River Cats could receive a boost to the pitching staff soon enough. According to the team's transaction log, Keaton Winn, who currently occupies a spot on the 40-man roster, has begun a rehab assignment.

Young SF Giants pitcher begins rehab assignment after lengthy absence

Winn has been out with an injury since appearing in a game against the Salt Lake Bees on April 15. He completed four innings, allowing four earned runs with five strikeouts and zero walks in an 8-6 win. As is often the case, the nature of the injury was not publicly revealed.

The Giants had the option to transfer him to the 60-day injured list, but did not pursue that route. Winn has missed nearly three months, so he would have easily exceeded that 60-day window. He allowed one earned run in one inning of work with the Arizona Complex League Giants earlier this week. Winn will now continue his rehab assignment with the San Jose Giants.

Winn has had some poor injury luck in recent years. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2021 and did not return until midway through the 2022 season. At that point, he had not appeared on a pro mound in three years.

The right-handed hurler posted a 4.08 ERA with 125 strikeouts in 108 innings split across three levels to finish out the 2022 season. The Giants decided to protect him from the Rule 5 draft that offseason by adding him to the 40-man roster.

Since then, Winn has pitched to a 6.08 ERA in 97.2 sporadic innings with the Giants. Unfortunately, he has finished each of the past two seasons on the injured list due to unrelated elbow ailments.

Winn had fully recovered from a season-ending procedure last July to transpose his ulnar nerve in his pitching elbow. He entered the season with an outside shot at making the club, but began the year with Sacramento. During that time, he tallied a 5.91 ERA with 12 strikeouts and two walks in 10.2 frames.

When the 27-year-old pitcher has been healthy, he has shown flashes of becoming a reliable rotation arm. He relies on a plus splitter with a mid-90's sinker and four-seam fastball. Winn had been experimenting with a slider in recent years. At times, that turned into an effective offering.