SF Giants pitching prospect Rohan Handa undergoes surgery
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The SF Giants will have to wait a bit longer to see their 2021 fifth-round pick Rohan Handa make his debut in professional baseball. Earlier this week, Handa shared a post about the 2022 season on his social media platforms.
"2022….. most challenging season for me on a physical and mental scale," Handa said. "I tried everything to get back onto the field, but unfortunately, the shoulder never cooperated with me, and I couldn't throw a pitch this season."
"Fortunately," Handa continued. "I've finally got something to help me get past this, an answer. An answer that requires a bit more patience, an answer that gives me a path towards playing the game I love."
The message was shared alongside a series of images, one of which showed him in what appeared to be a hospital bed with a brace on his left arm. Handa, a left-handed pitcher, had been out with a shoulder injury for most of the 2022 season.
Handa was not considered a professional prospect out of high school. An effective soft-tossing southpaw with a strong academic resume, though, Handa found his way to Yale and emerged as a solid reliever for the Bulldogs.
Then, the 2020 college baseball season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ivy League canceled the 2021 season. Rather than twiddling his thumbs, Handa went to work rebuilding his pitching mechanics. Out of nowhere, he began flashing high-90s velocity and was a breakout star at the New England Collegiate Summer League. He racked up 25 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched (five starts) with a 0.53 ERA. Betting on his ability to continue to grow, the Giants drafted Handa in the fifth round.
Rohan Handa's first full year as a professional baseball player has not gone the way he, or the SF Giants, had hoped. However, the 22-year-old southpaw is confident that he has found the next step to help him return to the field.
