San Francisco Giants send Derek Law to 15-day DL

As if things couldn’t get worse for the Giants, relief pitcher Derek Law has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with an elbow strain in his throwing arm.

Derek Law will be heading to the 15-day disabled list, the San Francisco Giants announced on Sunday.  To replace Law’s spot on the 25-man active roster is outfielder Jarrett Parker from Triple-A Sacramento. In his rookie year this season with San Fransisco, Law has arguably been the Giants best reliever. The 25-year-old has the lowest ERA on the team and has given up just two home runs, also the fewest among the active roster.

It’s worth noting that Law had Tommy John surgery back in 2014. Additionally, he saw a dip in fastball velocity which was concerning to manager Bruce Bochy. Per Brooks Baseball data, Law’s four-seam fastball velocity has plummeted to 92.9 MPH, down nearly two MPH from his 94.8 average back in June.

While not a strikeout pitcher, Law has been extremely effective pitching to contact this season. He has a 50% groundball rate and a minuscule 4.6% walk rate or 1.5 BB/9. With Law on the shelf, the rest of the bullpen must step up. Just 13-26 since the All-Star Break, the Giants will need more offense to compensate for their bullpen woes.

Hopefully, Law’s DL stint is just two weeks, but who knows. The dip in velocity is concerning, but it’s not the end of the world. His decline in fastball velocity sure didn’t affect his number this month. Law has a 0.79 ERA in August over 11.1 innings pitched. His slugging percentage against in the second half (.206) is way down from the first half (.372).

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The Giants bullpen has been mediocre at best this season. They hold a collective ERA of 3.79 which ranks 16th in the league. Law has primarily worked the seventh and the eighth innings, utilized as a middle reliever and setup man. With Law on the shelf, look for reliever Hunter Strickland to replace Law’s role.