The Richmond Flying Squirrels, Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, announced that Giants left-handed pitcher Josh Osich will begin a rehab assignment with the team, beginning on Tuesday, August 9th at The Diamond.
Osich will become the third Giants player to rehab with Richmond (Matt Cain ’15, Ryan Vogelsong ’13) and the first that was initially a member of the Squirrels on his way to the Major Leagues. Osich was placed on the Giants MLB disabled list on July 24th with a forearm strain and will begin his road to recovery in Richmond.
He is tentatively scheduled to make his first rehab appearance at The Diamond on Tuesday night against the Trenton Thunder.
Osich spent parts of three seasons in Richmond, appearing in 81 games out of the bullpen from 2013-2015. His best season came last year, when he made 31 relief appearances and converted 19 saves while pitching to a 1.59 ERA. He struck out 34 batters in 34.0 innings, and made his final appearance with the Flying Squirrels on June 23 at The Diamond against the Thunder. He then pitched in two games with the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats before making his Major League debut on July 3 against Washington at Nationals Park. Osich solidified himself in the Giants bullpen last season, ultimately going 2-0 with a 2.20 ERA in 35 games. He won his first big league game on July 11th against the Philadelphia Phillies before adding his second win on September 26th in Oakland.
At the end of last season, Osich was named an MiLB.com Organization All-Star for the Giants and now comes back to Richmond, where he became a fan and front office favorite. He was selected by San Francisco in the sixth round of the 2011 June draft out of Oregon State University.