Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com reports that left-hander Dan Runzler will leave Giants’ camp tomorrow to see Dr. James Andrews in Florida regarding a strained lat muscle in the back of his shoulder.
Runzler originally strained the lat in the final game of the regular season last year and aggravated the injury while throwing a bullpen session earlier this week. An MRI showed that his rotator cuff and labrum were intact and while surgery for the lat hasn’t been ruled out, Runzler said his visit to Andrews is more about establishing a timeline to resume throwing.
Runzler was expected to begin this season in the minor leagues after posting a 6.26 ERA and 26/15 K/BB ratio over 27 1/3 innings with the Giants last season. The 26-year-old was primarily used as a starting pitcher with Triple-A Fresno last year and the hard-throwing southpaw even made his first major league start last August, but his command issues (5.0 BB/9 in the minors, 5.4 BB/9 in the majors) will likely keep him in the bullpen for the long haul.
