SAN DIEGO — Landen Roupp was only acting on instinct.
When Ramón Laureano smashed a comebacker in his direction, Roupp followed a basic human impulse by trying to get out of the way. Doing so sent him stumbling, putting his feet in an awkward position. The ball still banged off his right hamstring, and as he fell backwards, his left knee awkwardly bent and he immediately collapsed.
Roupp tried to rise back to his feet but fell back to the ground. The Giants’ medical staff quickly rushed to Roupp’s aid and tended to his knee. A medical cart eventually emerged from the left-field fence. Following several minutes on the ground, Roupp was helped on to the cart and he departed from the field.
In his second start back from right elbow inflammation, Roupp had sustained another injury: a left knee sprain.
San Francisco allowed four homers and played a poor game en route to losing 8-1 to the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night at Petco Park, but the loss of the game was secondary to the loss of Roupp. Now, the 26-year-old will fly back to San Francisco and undergo an MRI that determines the severity of his injury and, by extension, whether he can pitch again this season.
“It’s super tough,” said shortstop Willy Adames. “It’s another thing that you go, ‘Man, that had to happen too?’ We just got him back. I feel like this was a really good moment for him to come back and rejoin the team and help us be better. Then, that happened.
“It feels like we can’t catch a break. Obviously, hopefully, it’s nothing terrible. I know it’s still going to be bad whatever it is that he has, but we’re going to wait until tomorrow to see … whatever happened to him.”
If Roupp has to miss the remainder of the season, this night would be an unfortunate end to a season where the 26-year-old established himself as a quality starter tonight.
Including tonight’s outing, one where he allowed five runs over 2 1/3 innings and surrendered two homers, Roupp own a 3.80 ERA with 100 strikeouts over 106 2/3 innings. Roupp won the fifth and final rotation spot out of spring training and emerged as the No. 3 starter in the rotation behind All-Stars Logan Webb and Robbie Ray, consistently putting the Giants in positions to win.
“I saw him right after,” said manager Bob Melvin. “You know how he is. He said, ‘I’m going to be fine.’ Just the way he is with everything.”
With Roupp likely headed to the injured list, the Giants will soon have to determine who takes his spot in the starting rotation. The team may also need a fresh bullpen arm after right-hander Tristan Beck threw four innings of relief and will likely be unavailable for the next several days.
Blade Tidwell, who was acquired in the trade that sent Tyler Rogers to the New York Mets, would’ve been a clear-cut choice based on his performance since joining the organization. Tidwell, however, is slated to undergo an MRI on Thursday after experiencing shoulder discomfort in a recent bullpen.
So, what are the Giants’ other options?
The three most viable choices down at Triple-A Sacramento are Hayden Birdsong, Carson Whisenhunt and Trevor McDonald. Of those three, Birdsong and Whisenhunt have made starts for the Giants this season while McDonald has exclusively pitched for the River Cats.
On Wednesday, Birdsong made his fifth start for Sacramento since being optioned by the Giants in late July. The right-hander allowed four runs (three earned) over three innings, walking five batters in the process. Overall, Birdsong has a 5.59 ERA with the River Cats this season.
Whisenhunt recently made three starts with the Giants before being optioned back to Sacramento. The left-hander has only made one start since returning, allowing two runs and surrendering one homer over 5 1/3 innings with six strikeouts to four walks.
McDonald, 24, has yet to pitch for San Francisco this season after making his major-league debut last season. The right-hander has a 5.25 ERA over 25 appearances (20 starts) with the River Cats this season but he’s fared well over his last three starts, posting a 3.00 ERA with 24 strikeouts over 18 innings.
Another option the Giants could pursue is stretching out Carson Seymour to be a starter.
Seymour has primarily been a starting pitcher for his entire professional career and made 15 starts with Sacramento this season, but he’s exclusively pitched as a reliever for San Francisco. The 26-year-old has pitched multiple innings in all but one of his nine bullpen appearances, tossing three innings of relief on four occasions.
“We’ve seen some guys,” Melvin said. “We’re kind of filtering through it right now and what we think we need here coming up too. Obviously, the bullpen was taxed a little bit, too. So, thinking about what the need is here in both the short-term and the long-term.”
Originally Published: August 20, 2025 at 7:42 PM PDT
