The San Francisco Giants had a positive outlook on the injury of their second baseman Freddy Sanchez last week. Sanchez, who has been out since last season after suffering a shoulder injury, had started a rehab assignment with the San Jose Giants. The rehab program was supposed to last 18 days, after which Sanchez would join the Giants for a series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. With each day, that looks less and less likely to work out.

Sanchez received an official setback earlier in the week, but some more troubling news emerged on Friday in San Jose. Carl Steward of the San Jose Mercury News sent this tweet:

#SFGiants Freddy Sanchez said he felt a shooting sensation making throw during DP drill. Has had MRI, expects results later tonight.

— Carl Steward (@stewardsfolly) April 27, 2012

Followed by this one:

#sfgiants Weird: Freddy Sanchez is out taking ground balls at second base during BP, just lobbing balls back in. Feel for the guy.

— Carl Steward (@stewardsfolly) April 28, 2012

The more news that comes out, the bleaker the situation seems. While it is entirely possible that Sanchez could be back in weeks or months, there is a very real chance that he could be nearing the end of his career as a result of this injury.

For more discussion and analysis of the San Francisco Giants, head over to McCovey Chronicles as well as SB Nation Bay Area.