Peavy to DL With Lower Back Strain, Suarez to Start

The San Francisco Giants have placed pitcher Jake Peavy on the 15-day disabled list with a lower back strain and have recalled Albert Suarez, who will start in tonight's series opener against the Atlanta Braves.

Peavy was one of San Francisco's five Opening Day starters heading into the season before moving to the bullpen following the acquisition of Matt Moore on August 1st, 2016.

In both his time as a starter and as a reliever, Peavy has posted a 5.55 ERA in 116.2 innings, striking out 7.79 per nine innings while walking 2.62 per nine innings.

The former Cy Young Award winner has shown occasional flashes of his dominance, posting a couple of solid starts early in the season, but in the twilight of his career, Peavy has undoubtedly begun to show some age.

The average velocity on his fastball hit a career-low of 89.3 MPH, and batters have reacted accordingly, batting .285 against his "hard" pitches, a career-high for Peavy. Batters also have a combined slugging percentage of .540 against Peavy's fastball and 0.596 against his sinker.

Suarez, unlike Peavy, is just getting his feet wet in the bigs, having made his debut in May of this year.

Over the course of Suarez's 55.2 innings on the mound, he has split time between relieving and starting, putting up a 4.20 ERA while striking out 6.47 per nine innings while walking 2.75 per nine innings.

Suarez hasn't pitched for the Giants since a relief appearance on July 28th against the Washington Nationals, in which he struck out four and allowed one run in two innings of work. His last start came on July 3rd against the Arizona Diamondbacks, allowing only two runs to complement his five strikeouts.

The Venezuelan-native is likely to be a short-term fix for Matt Cain, who is rehabbing with the Sacramento River Cats with a strained lower back of his own.

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