Anthony DeSclafani wasn’t himself in the Giants’ 7-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday at Chase Field.
In fact, he was struggling with an injury he sustained weeks ago.
DeSclafani (L, 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, BB, 2 Ks) was pulled out of the game at the end of the sixth inning after manager Gabe Kapler and head athletic trainer Dave Groeschner came out to the right to check on him. The pitcher appeared to be in pain.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Kapler explained what bothered DeSclafani about his Saturday outing.
“A few weeks ago he dropped a piano bench on his toe and his toenail took the brunt,” Kapler said. “So that bothered him. He was able to throw further and felt good enough to continue rolling but we kept an eye on him as the nail came off and was causing him quite a bit of pain. So monitored and monitored and then finally.” I went out with Groesch and decided it would be good to probably pull the plug on him. He was grinning pretty good there.”
Kapler added that as of this writing, he doesn’t expect DeSclafani to miss his next start and commended the veteran for overcoming the pain.
DeSclafani spoke to reporters at the Giants clubhouse, where he explained exactly how he sustained the toe injury.
“I’m playing the piano with my kid right now,” DeSclafani explained. “It’s just silly, but I was playing the piano with my kid and trying to help him off the bench and the thing literally poised my toe up, like it was a few weeks ago. The toenail just died off and today it started affecting me.”
After sustaining the injury weeks ago, DeSclafani shared that he hadn’t felt any pain on his previous starts and that the toe had gotten worse over the past week.
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With every move he made Saturday, whether setting up bunches, covering first base, or placing his left foot on each of his 77 pitches, the nail loosened, causing more and more pain.
DeSclafani has been phenomenal in eight starts so far this season, posting a 3.06 ERA with 35 strikeouts on just five walks in 50 innings. After only making the starting XI five times last season before suffering a season-ending ankle injury, the Giants finally had DeSclafani back and healthy.
Now they hope he won’t be out due to his toe injury.
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