The San Francisco Giants rotation suffered another setback as Trevor McDonald is expected to miss the remainder of 2026 and likely all of the 2027 season.
The San Francisco Giants will be without one of their young starting pitchers for the foreseeable future after manager Tony Vitello announced Tuesday that right-hander Trevor McDonald will undergo Tommy John surgery.
The procedure is expected to sideline McDonald for the remainder of the 2026 season and likely all of 2027. Recovery from Tommy John surgery generally takes between 14 and 16 months, putting his return to a major-league mound sometime during the 2028 season.
The news comes less than a week after the Giants placed McDonald on the Injured List with what was initially diagnosed as a moderate UCL sprain. Further evaluation ultimately led to the decision that reconstructive surgery was the best path forward.
Promising opportunity ends early
McDonald earned his place in San Francisco's starting rotation in early May, marking the first extended major-league opportunity of his career. The 25-year-old showed promise early in his stint, demonstrating the ability to keep hitters off balance and generate weak contact.
As the season progressed, however, McDonald encountered more difficulty before his elbow injury brought his campaign to an abrupt end.
He finishes the year with a 5.12 ERA across 70.1 innings while making the most significant contribution of his young major-league career. McDonald consistently relied on a heavy ground-ball approach, producing grounders at an impressive rate despite not generating a high volume of strikeouts.
There were obvious growing pains of a rookie starter during his 2026 campaign, but his main value came from his ability to start every fifth day. With the Aug. 3 trade deadline quickly approaching, the announcement really couldn't have come at a worse time, as the Giants are expected to sell parts of their rotation.
Looking ahead
While the injury represents a significant setback, McDonald remains part of the Giants' long-term plans. Because he has not yet reached arbitration, San Francisco retains team control over the right-hander for the next six seasons, giving the organization plenty of time to support his rehabilitation and eventual return.
Tommy John surgery has become a common procedure for pitchers, and many have successfully returned to previous levels of performance after completing the lengthy recovery process. The Giants will now hope McDonald can follow that path as he begins rehab and works toward rejoining the club in 2028.
In the meantime, San Francisco will need to continue navigating the remainder of the season without one of its young rotation options, while McDonald's focus shifts entirely toward a full recovery and returning healthy for the next chapter of his career.
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