Noah Lowry out at least through April

The Giants can't afford to start the season without one of their young starters, but that's exactly what they'll have to overcome.

Left-hander Noah Lowry is scheduled to have surgery on his left forearm on Friday and though he could be back throwing in 2 weeks, manager Bruce Bochy says it's more likely they'll be without him until the end of April.

“This is something that I don’t know enough about it to know how rare it is, but you don’t hear about it a lot,” Bochy said. “It’s not like this is a common occurrence in baseball players.”

Lowry was diagnosed with exertional compartment syndrome. According to MayoClinic.com, it is “an exercise-induced neuromuscular condition that causes pain, swelling and sometimes even disability in affected muscles of the legs or arms.”

It'll be interesting who the Giants put in Lowry's place until he's ready to return to the rotation.