Left-hander Blake Snell‘s injury-marred first season with San Francisco had another setback when the Giants placed the two-time Cy Young Award winner on the 15-day injured list Monday due to a left groin strain.
The Giants also activated outfielder Michael Conforto from the 10-day IL after he returned from a rehab assignment in his recovery from a right hamstring strain.
Snell reaggravated the left adductor and exited in the middle of the fifth inning of a 7-5 loss to the visiting New York Yankees on Sunday. Manager Bob Melvin said after the game that Snell would undergo an MRI exam on Monday.
Snell was two pitches into an at-bat against Alex Verdugo when he noticeably flinched after a pitch. Melvin and a trainer came to the mound and Snell departed.
Snell had a groin issue earlier this season and spent nearly a month on the injured list with a left adductor strain. He returned on May 22.
On Sunday, Snell threw a season-high 99 pitches before the injury forced him out of the contest after 4 2/3 innings. He was charged with three runs, five hits and three walks and struck out seven.
Snell, 31, is 0-3 with a 9.51 ERA in six starts after signing a two-year, $62 million contract with the Giants as a free agent. He also missed time with left adductor issues in 2021 and 2022.
He won the National League Cy Young Award with the San Diego Padres last season. He also was the American League Cy Young winner with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018, when he earned his lone All-Star Game selection.
He is 71-58 with a 3.35 ERA, 465 walks and 1,254 strikeouts in 1,016 1/3 innings over 197 games (all starts) in his career.
Conforto, 31, is batting .280 with seven home runs and 20 RBIs in 143 at-bats over 38 games in his second season with San Francisco.
He played for the New York Mets from 2015-21 — including a selection to the 2017 All-Star Game — before missing the entire 2022 campaign due to injury. Conforto is a career .254 hitter with 154 homers and 474 RBIs in 920 games.