Jeff Samardzija to Miss 3-4 Weeks After Pectoral Injury Diagnosed as Strain

The San Francisco Giants rotation will be shorthanded to start the regular season as veteran Jeff Samardzija is expected to miss three to four weeks with a pectoral strain.

Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reported the timetable provided by San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy. The Samardzija news comes on the heels of ace Madison Bumgarner fracturing his left hand, per Schulman, after being hit by a comebacker in Friday's spring training game against the Kansas City Royals.

The trip to the disabled list puts Samardzija in unfamiliar territory. He has made at least 32 starts each of the last five seasons, throwing 200 innings-plus in each campaign.

Samardzija is entering the third season of his five-year, $90 million contract. He is 21-26 with a 4.12 ERA, a 1.168 WHIP and 372 strikeouts in 64 starts with the Giants. In 2017, he went 9-15 with a 4.42 ERA, a 1.136 WHIP and 205 strikeouts in a National League-leading 207.2 innings.

It was a tough spring for the right-hander leading up to the injury. In 11 innings, he had gotten roughed up for 15 runs (13 earned) on 17 hits—including six home runs—while walking seven.

Losing Samardzija and Bumgarner for an extended period of time is certainly going to test the Giants' depth. Johnny Cueto is an ace and can lead a rotation as he proved during his time with the Cincinnati Reds. However, after Cueto, the team will now need Derek Holland, Chris Stratton and Ty Blach to be more than the back-of-the-rotation arms they were expected to be.