Santa Rosa’s Scott Alexander shut down with hamstring strain. Will he be back with SF Giants in 2024?
LOS ANGELES — Scott Alexander, a Santa Rosa native, has possibly thrown his last pitch for his hometown San Francisco Giants.
Alexander, 34, strained his left hamstring before Saturday’s game while running sprints, landing him on the injured list and ruling him out for the rest of this season. In a corresponding move, the Giants called up outfielder Heliot Ramos from Triple-A Sacramento.
While Alexander told the Bay Area News Group that he would like to return next year, the sinkerballing left-hander is set to be a free agent this offseason, and the Giants might prefer to build their bullpen next year without him.
“I like it here a lot. I would love to come back,” he said in an interview last week. “But it’s kind of out of my hands.”
The Giants signed Alexander to a minor-league contract last May when he couldn’t find any takers. His shoulder was injured, but doctors couldn’t pinpoint the exact ailment. The Giants allowed him to rehab under their watch and eventually reaped the benefits when he was activated last August.
Alexander used his signature power sinker to post a 1.07 ERA in 17 appearances after returning last season. But in 55 games this season, his ERA ballooned to 4.66, the highest mark of his career. Over the two seasons, Alexander has thrown 65⅔ innings with a 3.70 ERA, opened 12 games, finished 14 and recorded three saves.
“You appreciate any opportunity,” he said. “They’re all kind of the same. Sometimes in your career, you’re in different spots, so they matter a little bit more. But an opportunity is an opportunity. It’s just what you do with it. I’m appreciative of the organization and staff in general. I’m just happy I’m healthy and able to pitch still.”
The Giants’ bullpen could look different next season with a number of relievers due to be free agents like Alexander.
Jakob Junis, Alex Wood and John Brebbia will all have their contracts expire after the season. That leaves Camilo Doval, Tyler Rogers, Taylor Rogers, Luke Jackson and Ryan Walker as the surefire bets to be back, while Ross Stripling and Sean Manaea both have $12.5 million player options.
Among that group, only Doval and Walker are eligible to be optioned to the minors, and the Giants might prefer to fill out the rest of their bullpen with others who can go up and down. One option is left-hander Erik Miller, who has put together a nice season at Triple-A Sacramento and might get a look in the majors in this final week.
“Miller’s interesting,” manager Gabe Kapler said Saturday. “He’s had a good year. There’s been some ups and some downs as always with a younger pitcher. But he’s got some upper-level experience and has some good work already done at the Double- and Triple-A level this year.”