Brian Wilson Injury: Elbow Surgery Death Blow to Giants' Season

The San Francisco Giants are in trouble. Big trouble.

The team announced that closer Brian Wilson is on his way to surgery for his right elbow after an MRI revealed structural damage plus an additional ligament problem (via Comcast SportsNet).

Comcast SportsNet reporter Andrew Baggarly confirms that Wilson is indeed finished for the season:

"

Wilson says his season is over. Had whimsical take on it. Called it a minor thing to miss a season because he plans on pitching forever.

— Andrew Baggarly (@CSNBaggs) April 15, 2012"

Wilson has a visit with Dr. James Andrews on the horizon and Tommy John surgery looks to be the outcome of their meeting. That means Wilson will miss the remainder of the 2012 season, effectively ending the Giants season as well. 

This is awful news for the Giants, who now have to completely rearrange their bullpen. The likely new closer is going to be Santiago Casilla. He’s pitched well since coming over from the Oakland Athletics in 2010 and now has the opportunity to close for the first time in his career.

Can he handle being the closer? It’s a question nobody knows the answer to at this point. Javier Lopez can be the guy to get out lefties in certain situations, but that really kills the depth of the ‘pen.

What used to be the strongest part of the team is now the weakest.  

Since becoming the full-time closer in 2008, Wilson has notched 164 saves, which is two more than Mariano Rivera. His outstanding performance in the 2010 postseason will never be forgotten by fans. But when you pitch with the force of Wilson, eventually it’s going to catch up to you.

The Giants can’t hit, but that hasn’t stopped them in the past. Now with a shaky bullpen, only the starting pitching is a strength of the team and that’s not good enough. With the way the Los Angeles Dodgers have jumped out of the gate and the Arizona Diamondbacks looking strong once again, it’s hard to picture a scenario where the Giants are winning the NL West.

It’s a tough pill to swallow for fans, but at least Wilson will be ready to roll at the beginning of the 2013 season.

But for now, fans are dealing with the reality that their team simply doesn’t have it in 2012. A 4-4 record has never felt so hopeless. 

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