WASHINGTON -- The Giants knew they’d be without José Buttó for a while after the 28-year-old reliever was forced to undergo surgery to remove a blood clot in his throwing arm on April 3.
But Buttó’s absence is now expected to stretch even longer.
Buttó had a second surgery on Friday to repair an axillary artery in his upper right arm, which has a recovery period of five to six months. That could jeopardize his availability for the rest of the 2026 campaign, though manager Tony Vitello wasn’t ready to rule Buttó out for the season just yet.
“It was a little bit more intrusive than the first go-around,” Vitello said Saturday. “We’re looking forward to him fully getting on the mend. Now we for sure know what the runway looks like. It'll be a little bit of a grind for him to get back, but that alleviates an arm issue, but also something that potentially could lead into a health issue. It’s good that he's gotten that fully taken care of.”
Buttó was expected to be a key piece of the Giants’ bullpen this year, but he gave up five runs over two innings in three appearances before landing on the injured list with right arm fatigue on April 2. He showed diminished velocity in his final outing against the Padres on April 1, which prompted the Giants to refer him to Dr. Jason Lee, a vascular surgeon at the Stanford Medical Center, where the blood clot was discovered.
Buttó was expected to miss two to four months following his first surgery, but he’ll face a lengthier rehab now that he’s gone under the knife twice in the last two weeks. Still, Buttó sounded in relatively good spirits while sharing the news of his latest setback in an Instagram post on Saturday.
“Yesterday, I underwent a very rare surgery for baseball to repair a blood clot in my armpit that was limiting my movement and making it painful to pitch,” Buttó wrote. “Thanks GOD first and Dr. Jason T. Lee and his team. The surgery was a SUCCESS! Infinite thanks to my entire family and to everyone who has been sending their support and prayers. Now focused on healing and recovering 100% to be back on the mound.”