SAN FRANCISCO — Rafael Devers was the focal point on Tuesday afternoon, but right-hander Justin Verlander also spoke with reporters about his upcoming return after missing a month due to injury.
“It feels exciting,” said Verlander before Tuesday’s game against the Cleveland Guardians. “I’ve been pretty anxious wanting to pitch. I feel like things were starting to trend in the right direction, and hopefully I can pick up where I left off.”
Verlander, 42, hasn’t appeared for the Giants since pitching four innings against the Athletics on May 18. On May 22, San Francisco placed Verlander on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to May 19) with right pectoral soreness. Following a month of bullpens (and two live bullpens), Verlander will return to the fold.
Per manager Bob Melvin, the right-hander’s pitch count on Tuesday will be in the 80-pitch range.
Left-hander Kyle Harrison took Verlander’s spot in the rotation while Verlander recovered, but Harrison was part of the four-player package sent to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Devers.
Harrison was scheduled to start for the Giants against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday Night Baseball but was pulled less than an hour before first pitch due to the trade. Right-hander Sean Hjelle made an emergency start in Harrison’s place — the first start of his career — and tossed a season-high 3 2/3 innings.
Verlander, himself, is plenty familiar with being the headliner of a blockbuster trade.
In 2017, the Detroit Tigers sent Verlander to the Houston Astros for a package of prospects. Verlander posted a 1.06 ERA over five starts down the stretch, then had a 2.21 ERA in the postseason as the Astros won the World Series — a title tainted by the Astros’ cheating scandal.
“I was thinking about (the trade) today. From the other side of it, it’s really exciting and provides a lot of energy for the ball club,” Verlander said. “Hopefully we can go on a run like we did in Houston after I got traded there. That would be great.”
Verlander only played one month for the Astros during the 2017 regular season — Houston acquired Verlander on Aug. 31 back when the waiver trade deadline existed — but the Giants are adding Devers more than a month before the July 31 trade deadline. Following Tuesday’s game against the Cleveland Guardians, the Giants will still have 89 regular season games remaining, providing Devers plenty of opportunities to make his mark.
“Anytime you can bring in a great player, I think the longer you can have him be an impact over the course of the season, the better,” Verlander said. “Really exciting for everybody. Buster (Posey) obviously did a lot of work. I liked what he said in the press conference too about how this guy’s a dude. … I’m a big fan of getting him in early. Big fan of him and I think the city should be super excited to see him in a Giants uniform.”
Johnson optioned, recalled right back
Outfielder Daniel Johnson was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento to make room for Devers, but Johnson was recalled just hours later when the Giants placed infielder/outfielder Jerar Encarnacion on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain.
Encarnacion, 27, has struggled at the plate since being activated off the 60-day injured list earlier this month. Over eight games, Encarnacion went 3-for-22 (.136) with one double, no homers and no RBIs.
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The six-foot-four only played seven rehab games with Triple-A Sacramento before returning from a left hand fracture (the Giants paused his rehab after two games, then resumed it two weeks later). Given his struggles, an extended stint with Sacramento might be in order to let him find his rhythm before returning to San Francisco.
Johnson, 29, currently has a .786 OPS over 19 plate appearances with the Giants after beginning this season in Mexico. The Vallejo native homered on Sunday against the Dodgers, his first home run in the majors since Aug. 24, 2021.
