![\"Philadelphia](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/philadelphia-phillies-v-san-francisco-giants-san-francisco-california-april-08.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 08: Blade Tidwell #46 of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the Philadelphia Phillies at Oracle Park on April 08, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The San Francisco Giants<\/a>\u00a0won Monday night, but the development that could matter most happened before the fourth inning ended.<\/p>\n Right-hander Blade Tidwell<\/a> left the Giants\u2019 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins<\/a> with elbow discomfort. He is expected to undergo an MRI, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle<\/a>.<\/p>\n There was no reported diagnosis as of Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n That distinction matters. Elbow discomfort can lead to outcomes of varying severity, and it would be premature to connect Tidwell to surgery or a lengthy absence before imaging is reviewed.<\/p>\n However, the timing creates another question for a Giants<\/a> team already looking toward 2027.<\/p>\n Tidwell Had Started Making His Case Tidwell allowed one run over 3.1 innings Monday before his exit. The outing followed his best start for San Francisco: 6.2 innings of two-run baseball in a win over the St. Louis Cardinals<\/a> on September 15, according to Reuters<\/a>.<\/p>\n The 25-year-old was beginning to show why the Giants<\/a> viewed him as more than short-term depth.<\/p>\n He spent April in San Francisco\u2019s bullpen before being sent to Triple-A to stretch out as a starter. That decision positioned him to fill one of the vacancies created at the deadline. It also gave the Giants a longer evaluation window than a September cameo would have provided.<\/p>\n San Francisco acquired Tidwell, Drew Gilbert and Jos\u00e9 Butt\u00f3<\/a> from the New York Mets<\/a> for reliever Tyler Rogers<\/a> at the 2025 trade deadline. MLB.com identified Tidwell<\/a> as a potential 2027 rotation piece after the club traded Robbie Ray<\/a> and Tyler Mahle<\/a> this summer.<\/p>\n A healthy Tidwell would give president of baseball operations Buster Posey a young, controllable starter who could compete for a spot behind Logan Webb<\/a> and Landen Roupp<\/a>. That would not eliminate the need to add pitching, but it could prevent San Francisco from needing to purchase an entire rotation through free agency.<\/p>\n The MRI could change that calculation.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t The Giants have already lost several rotation options.<\/p>\n Trevor McDonald<\/a> underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery, while Carson Whisenhunt<\/a> suffered a torn UCL. Adrian Houser<\/a> also exited an August start with forearm discomfort, according to MLB.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n If Tidwell cannot make his scheduled Sunday start, Slusser identified left-hander Joe Whitman as one possible replacement. Whitman posted a 3.74 ERA at Triple-A Sacramento after beginning the year with Double-A Richmond.<\/p>\n Giving Whitman a final-week audition would carry some intrigue, but it would not solve the larger problem.<\/p>\n The Giants need certainty behind Webb and Roupp. Tidwell had an opportunity to provide some before his elbow interrupted one of the final evaluations of the season.<\/p>\n For now, San Francisco can only wait for the MRI.<\/p>\n If the result is encouraging, Monday\u2019s exit could become a late-season precaution. If it is not, Posey may enter the winter needing another starting pitcher before the offseason has even begun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 08: Blade Tidwell #46 of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":811620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2408],"tags":[5,162,4,378,66,4343,4340,4344,4341,4342],"class_list":["post-811619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco-giants","tag-baseball","tag-giants","tag-mlb","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-giants","tag-sanfrancisco","tag-sanfranciscogiants","tag-sf","tag-sf-giants","tag-sfgiants"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/117316049321611121","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=811619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/811620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=811619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=811619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=811619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n![\"Minnesota](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/minnesota-twins-v-san-francisco-giants-san-francisco-california-september-21.jpg\")
GettySAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA \u2013 SEPTEMBER 21: Blade Tidwell #46 of the San Francisco Giants<\/a> pitches against the Minnesota Twins during the first inning at Oracle Park on September 21, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Buster](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790100740_9_new-york-yankees-v-san-francisco-giants-san-francisco-california-march.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"San](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/san-francisco-giants-v-st-louis-cardinals-st-louis-missouri-september-5.jpg\")
GettyST LOUIS, MISSOURI \u2013 SEPTEMBER 15: Blade Tidwell #46 and Drew Cavanaugh<\/a> #61 both of the San Francisco Giants return to the dugout after retiring the St. Louis Cardinals<\/a> in the first inning at Busch Stadium on September 15, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n