Giants identify Aaron Sanchez to be used

The Giants have named Aaron Sanchez for the order, per Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle. Additionally, John Brebbia was called back, Kevin Gausmann was reinstated from the paternity list and Thairo Estrada was optioned to Triple-A.

Sanchez signed a one-year contract in the off-season and the season got off to a great start. After six starts, he had an ERA of 3.18. But he struggled to get deep into the games and never lasted more than five innings. On May 8th, he was placed on the IL with biceps tight and then had difficulty returning from rehab with bladder problems that plagued him throughout his career. He was eventually reinstated on July 29th and has made three appearances since then but obviously hasn’t made enough promises to keep a squad spot. Overall, he has thrown 35 1/3 innings with an ERA of 3.06 this season, with his typical mix of low strikeouts but lots of ground balls.

Sanchez plays with a salary of $ 4 million, of which about $ 1.2 million remains to be paid out. If a team requiring a pitching need keeps them from the waivers, they could do so with a modest increase in salary and luxury tax books. However, it is also possible that the teams are just waiting for him to issue waivers. At that point, they could pay him the pro-rated league minimum with the Giants on the hook for the rest of that money. The contract signed between Sanchez and the Giants also included incentives based on the games started from his 16th of the season. With he’s currently sitting at seven starts a year, it seems unlikely that any of these incentives will be met.

Brebbia did very well for the Cardinals from 2017 to 2019, throwing 175 innings with an ERA of 3.14, a strikeout rate of 27.4% and a walk rate of 7.5%. Unfortunately, Tommy John’s surgery wiped out his 2020 season, which resulted in the Cardinals failing to sell him before signing with the Giants. In 15 innings so far for San Fran he has an ERA of 6.60, although the advanced metrics are much more bullish.