Blue Jays: Ken Giles won’t throw again for at least two weeks

According to TSN’s Scott Mitchell, Ken Giles received an injection on Thursday and the Blue Jays closer won’t throw again for at least two weeks.

Depending on how you look at the situation, the latest news about Ken Giles could be seen as either good or bad.

According to a late Thursday night tweet from TSN’s Scott Mitchell, Giles received a PRP injection in the elbow of his throwing arm, and he won’t be throwing again for at least two weeks. The use of the words “at least” seems to be fairly telling to me.

What we have to remember is that if Giles is going to completely shut down for two weeks, he’s going to need some time to ramp things back up again. The Blue Jays likely have to prepare for an absolute minimum of a month without their star closer, and chances are it’s going to be a fair bit longer than that.

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For those that didn’t see it, Giles had to leave Sunday’s game against the Rays with what has been described as “elbow soreness”. He looked like he was out of sorts for several pitches before the Blue Jays sent Pete Walker out to the mound to check on him. Giles said he was okay and could continue, but it only took another four more pitches before he had to concede that he wasn’t right.

Unfortunately Giles has been dealing with some elbow issues for a while now, as it kept him on the sidelines at times last season as well. It hasn’t gotten to the point where surgery has been required, but we’ll see how he heals after a few weeks of rest, and whether that could still be on the table later this summer.

For the time being expect that the Blue Jays will likely turn to Anthony Bass as the first option at closer. He’s looked very good thus far this year, as he’s thrown 4.1 scoreless innings and allowed just one hit thus far. Rafael Dolis could also factor in to some save opportunities as well, especially if the need arises on back to back nights.

Here’s hoping that a few weeks off will be all that Giles needs to get his elbow back on track. With a shortened season, he’s going to miss a significant chunk of the season regardless of how long he’s ultimately out. Hopefully he can be with the team during the stretch run, especially if they’re able to hang in the expanded postseason race.