Giants’ Mark Melancon will undergo arm surgery

A disastrous season for the Giants continues to worsen as right-hander Mark Melancon needs season-ending surgery for a rare chronic compartment syndrome in the pronator muscle of his right forearm.

The pronator muscle, which connects the forearm and the elbow, has apparently been giving Melancon problems for much of the season, which has led to a disappointing 4.13 ERA in just 28 ¹⁄₃ innings out of the bullpen. Melancon is in his first year with the Giants after signing a four-year, $62 million dollar deal.

While surgery is definite, the timetable for the operation is still up in the air. Melancon is set on pitching for as long as he can until he is unable to bear the pain or recover from recent outings. He has considered himself to be “day-to-day” at this point, so surgery can be scheduled at any time.

Melancon, 32, missed the entire month of July and was enjoying a strong August before surrendering three earned runs in his last 1 ²⁄₃ innings. The Giants are going nowhere fast, so it’s possible that the surgery is scheduled sooner rather than later, despite still having a month to go in the regular season.

Surgeries of this nature are expected to take two to three months to recover from, which would give Melancon plenty of time to prepare for next season, as long as everything goes well.