Right-hander Matt Waldron sustained a mild oblique strain yesterday, Padres manager Mike Shildt told MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell and other reporters. Waldron suffered the injury while warming up in the bullpen for a scheduled relief appearance in the Padres’ Cactus League game.
While Waldron is officially considered day-to-day, Shildt said the knuckleballer is “going to need some rest for some period of time, which will be determined.” Simply given the nature of oblique injuries and the timing, Shildt admitted that Waldron’s chances of making the Opening Day roster “would seem like it would be in jeopardy.”
The news would seem to erase any chance Waldron had of winning the fifth spot in San Diego’s rotation. An 8.68 ERA over 9 1/3 spring innings wasn’t helping his cause, and Waldron’s planned usage out of the pen on Friday might’ve hinted that the Padres were considering a long relief role for the right-hander. Naturally the first order of business will simply be for Waldron to get healthy, giving the team time to decide whether Waldron could be used as a reliever, or as a Triple-A depth starter.
Waldron has worked almost exclusively as a starter in the minors since the Padres acquired him in the 2020-21 offseason, and he has started 32 of his 35 career MLB games, posting a 4.79 ERA over his 188 innings in the Show. Injuries within the Padres’ rotation opened the door for Waldron to get a good amount of playing time, including 146 2/3 frames last season, though a 12.76 ERA over his last four starts suggested that Waldron ran into some fatigue.
Assuming a late trade doesn’t change the equation, Dylan Cease, Michael King, Yu Darvish, and Nick Pivetta are slated to be the Padres’ top four starters. Stephen Kolek, Randy Vasquez, and Kyle Hart are the remaining candidates for the fifth starter’s job now that Waldron has seemingly been removed from the competition.
With Hart having been reported to miss a start due to flu and with Kolek’s impressive work so far, I’d say SK has the lead. I hope Vasquez goes to AAA to work on his continued effort at starter as opposed to long relief at mlb. Hart may take long relief as a build up and just see where things go after 2 SK starts.
I think you’re right that Kolek has a leg up on Hart and if he keeps it up the job will be his. Have to wonder if Waldron had much of chance for #5 anyway with his recent woes. But with Hoeing out there is some competition for a long relief role that could keep one of Hart or Vasquez on ML roster.
I love those knuckleballers though. Hope he gets a starting gig this year.
Yep. I think Hart sticks in LR with maybe even some sort of planned pitch day to keep him built up. A piggyback with Kolek even since probably need to consider innings limit on Kolek. Keep them both on 5th day schedule if you can.
Haven’t heard anything of late on BH status. Hopefully, back soon. He is one that could make others better just by him doing his job well. Take the 6th or 2-3 innings or an opener –
Whatever needed kind of guy. Keeps others in their roles.
Brito might eventually be that guy but not yet.
And now a Waldron trade rumor is surely expected, no?
Boston like knuckleballers right? Maybe Atlanta?
This is why ya stockpile pitching. You can never have too many arms…
Kolek… Hart. Hart… Kolek. Are we looking at the new Finkle & Einhorn?
I must now chew an excessive amount of gum and burn my clothes!
Don’t forget to plunger your grill, Acoss!
Knuckleballers rely on different mechanics, emphasizing wrist action and minimal spin rather than velocity and raw force. However, they are still forced into the same weight training, bullpen sessions, and workload expectations as traditional pitchers, which increases their injury risk.
Waldron’s oblique strain isn’t just a random event—it suggests that his body is being conditioned incorrectly for the unique demands of his pitch.