SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants absorbed yet another injury blow on Tuesday, when they announced that rookie starter Blade Tidwell has been recommended to undergo surgery to repair a “moderate to high-grade sprain” of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.
“We were anticipating that a little bit, starting from last night,” manager Tony Vitello said following the Giants’ 3-2 loss to the Twins. “The good thing about it is Blade is in good spirits. You can’t undo anything, so you can only hope for the best on the road that he takes and have it behind him and push forward.”
Right-hander Braxton Roxby was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento to replace Tidwell, who was placed on the 15-day injured list in a corresponding move.
Tidwell suffered the elbow injury in the fourth inning of the Giants’ 5-2 win over the Twins on Monday night at Oracle Park. The 25-year-old opened his outing with three scoreless innings, but he surrendered a leadoff home run to Brooks Lee in the fourth and then immediately signaled toward the dugout after spiking a sweeper to Ryan Jeffers two batters later. Team trainer Ryo Watanabe came out to check on Tidwell, who ended up coming out of the game after throwing 57 pitches.
“I just felt a little discomfort,” Tidwell said afterward. “I summoned them out there, and then they took me out of the game. I didn’t think there was any reason to risk it at this point of the year.”
An MRI exam on Tuesday revealed the UCL sprain, which is often a precursor to Tommy John surgery. Tidwell met with team doctor Ken Akizuki on Tuesday night to discuss a treatment plan, though he said he could seek out a second opinion, as well.
“It’s pretty concerning,” Tidwell said. “It’s not something that I want, but it happens to most pitchers in today’s game, so I know I can get through it.”
The Giants have already seen three other young starters -- Hayden Birdsong, Trevor McDonald and Carson Whisenhunt -- succumb to Tommy John surgery this year, so losing Tidwell to the same fate would only further deplete their starting pitching depth heading into 2027.
As it stands, Logan Webb and Landen Roupp are the only locks for the Giants’ rotation next year. Veteran Adrian Houser remains under contract for '27, but he’s currently sidelined with a right flexor strain and bounced between the rotation and the bullpen in his first year in San Francisco. The Giants’ other internal options include youngsters like Anthony Molina, Cesar Perdomo, Yunior Marte and Matt Wilkinson, though they’re all relatively unproven.
Tidwell experienced some ups and downs after becoming a full-time member of the Giants’ starting rotation following the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline, but he delivered his best start of the year against the Cardinals on Sept. 15, giving up two runs over a career-high 6 2/3 innings at Busch Stadium. Overall, he posted a 4.45 ERA across 17 appearances (nine starts) for San Francisco this year.
“I saw a lot of positives and stuff to build off of going into the offseason,” Tidwell said. “The last few starts, I felt like I really grew as a pitcher. It was nice.”
The Giants will also have to navigate the final week of the regular season without Roupp, who said that he’s been shut down for the year due to workload concerns. Roupp last pitched on Sept. 14 and finished with a 4.01 ERA over a career-high 155 innings, a significant jump from the 106 2/3 innings he threw for the Giants in 2025.
“Mixed emotions,” Roupp said. “I’m not really happy with a lot of the outings I’ve had, but I am happy that I had a full year healthy without going on the IL. That’s a plus. There’s obviously stuff to clean up, like the command. I need to work on that all offseason. Overall, it wasn’t my best, but it wasn’t the worst, so mixed emotions.”
Vitello said he thought Roupp experienced “a lot of self-discovery” in his third season with the Giants.
“I think he’s very combative when he’s in game mode,” Vitello said. “I think everybody knows that. I think it’s a good thing. He’s very level-headed when he’s not. I think he’s pretty honest with himself. I think he knows his strengths, and he’s also discovered some areas he needs to get better at.”
With Roupp unavailable, infielder Christian Koss is now the last man standing from the Giants’ 2026 Opening Day roster. San Francisco has a whopping 24 players on the shelf, 16 of whom are on the 60-day IL.