- Padres outfielder Jorge Oña underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow yesterday, Dennis Lin of the Athletic was among those to pass along (Twitter link). He’s expected to be out of action for six to eight weeks. Oña, 24, made a very brief MLB debut last season, tallying 15 plate appearances over five games. Other than that limited major league time, Oña only has 103 trips to the plate above the low minors (in Double-A in 2019), so he likely would’ve started the year at Triple-A El Paso even if he’d been healthy.
Padres Rumors
Padres Activate Dinelson Lamet
5:20pm: San Diego announced that it has optioned righty Miguel Diaz to its alternate site to clear room for Lamet.
4:39pm: The Padres have activated right-hander Dinelson Lamet from the 10-day injured list, per a team announcement. He’ll start their game against the Pirates on Tuesday.
This will be the first start since April 21 for Lamet, who was making his season debut then. Lamet exited that appearance after just two innings with forearm tightness, leading to fears that he would require a second Tommy John surgery. Fortunately for him and the Padres, he was able to quickly work his way back from the injury.
The past several months have been difficult from a health standpoint for Lamet, whose 2020 season came to an end in late September when he suffered a UCL strain. Before that, Lamet enjoyed a breakout year with 69 innings of 2.09 ERA pitching and a 34.8 percent strikeout rate against a 7.5 percent walk rate. That stellar performance led to a fourth-place finish in National League Cy Young balloting.
Even with almost no contributions from Lamet this year, the Padres have begun a solid 17-13 – one game back of the NL West-leading Giants. San Diego’s starters have put up a stingy 2.81 ERA through the team’s first 30 games.
Latest On Padres Rotation
After a flurry of offseason acquisitions, the Padres entered the season with arguably one of the deepest pools of rotation candidates in the game. But just a month into the season, even the Padres are already looking at a bullpen game. Miguel Diaz will be the nominal starter today, but the 26-year-old right-hander has been working 3-4 inning stints at the Padres’ alternate site in preparation, writes Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He has appeared in 47 games for the Padres going back to 2017 and only three times as a starter.
In the near term, the Padres are holding out hope that either Ryan Weathers or Dinelson Lamet will be ready to start on Tuesday, adds Acee. Said manager Jayce Tingler, “Both of them were pretty aggressive with their bullpens today and came out reporting feeling well. We think that’s a good step for both guys. We’ll see how they respond tomorrow and go from there.”
Lamet has made just one start his year, going two scoreless before being removed because of forearm soreness. Weathers, 21, was the youngest starting pitcher in baseball, and he’d been nothing short of brilliant before leaving his last start with arm soreness. The young southpaw has a 0.55 ERA/3.23 FIP over 16 1/3 innings combined out of the pen and rotation.
There remains no word on Chris Paddack, who was placed on the injured list without an injury designation. Presumably, that points to something Covid-19-related (be it a positive test, close contact or self-reported symptoms). That could mean a quick turnaround for Paddack as we have seen with a few players this year, but only time will tell. If Paddack isn’t able to return shortly, the Friars hope that Lamet and Weathers could fill out the rotation. Otherwise, Diaz may be in for more than just a spot start.
Padres Place Chris Paddack On IL, Select Miguel Diaz
The Padres have placed right-hander Chris Paddack on the injured list and selected the contract of fellow righty Miguel Diaz, the team announced.
“I can’t really disclose a lot of information,” manager Jayce Tingler said of Paddack’s IL placement (via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com).
Tingler’s comment suggests Paddack is out for reasons related to COVID-19. Regardless, he’s the latest Padres starter to go on the shelf in the past couple weeks, joining righty Dinelson Lamet (forearm) and lefty Adrian Morejon (Tommy John surgery).
Paddack was a standout for the Padres in his debut campaign, 2019, but hasn’t been able to match his rookie production over the past season-plus. The 25-year-old hasn’t lasted more than 5 1/3 innings in any of his five starts this season, and across 23 1/3 overall frames, he has recorded a disappointing 5.40 ERA. However, some of Paddack’s other numbers – including a 3.22 FIP, a 3.66 xFIP, a 3.98 SIERA and a 6.7 percent walk rate – have been much more favorable.
Diaz, 26, appeared with the Padres in each season from 2017-19, but he could only muster a 6.61 ERA during that 66 2/3-inning stretch. The Padres non-tendered Diaz heading into the 2020 season, but they quickly brought him back on a minor league contract. They re-signed him to another minors deal prior to this season.
Latest On Dinelson Lamet, Ryan Weathers
The Padres could welcome back Dinelson Lamet from the injured list to start Sunday’s game against the Giants, writes AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. The righty got through a bullpen session this afternoon and the team will monitor how he responds over the next few days, manager Jayce Tingler told reporters. There was plenty of concern when Lamet, a 2018 Tommy John patient, left his first start of the year with forearm tightness after having his season debut delayed by a biceps issue. However, it seems he’s avoided any serious problems and could return after spending the minimum ten days on the IL during this most recent stint.
- Padres starter Ryan Weathers left his outing this evening against the Diamondbacks after one inning with left arm soreness, per a team announcement. The young southpaw topped out at 92.8 MPH with his fastball, down rather significantly from its typical mid-90’s range, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune was among those to note (Twitter link). That prompted a mid-inning visit from the team trainer, although Weathers did finish the frame and didn’t appear to be in obvious pain while he was on the mound. It isn’t yet clear if Weathers is in jeopardy of missing any future starts.
Padres Activate Austin Nola, Option Luis Campusano
The Padres announced they’re activating catcher Austin Nola from the injured list before this evening’s game against the Diamondbacks. Fellow backstop Luis Campusano has been optioned to the alternate training site in a corresponding move. Víctor Caratini will get the start in tonight’s contest.
Nola will be making his regular season debut when he first gets on the field. He’s been out since fracturing his left middle finger during a Spring Training game on March 13. His return will be a welcome development for the Friars, who have started 13-12 in his absence. Acquired from the Mariners before last summer’s trade deadline, Nola hit .222/.324/.381 in 74 plate appearances down the stretch. That level of offense is more adequate than stellar, but the former Marlins farmhand put up a much stronger .280/.351/.476 mark over 377 plate appearances while playing quality defense for Seattle over the prior season-plus.
In Nola’s absence, the Padres have leaned on Caratini and Campusano behind the plate, to disappointing results. The former has posted a .236/.317/.327 slash over 63 plate appearances, while the latter has only mustered an .088/.184/.088 mark in 38 trips to the dish. Campusano is a supremely talented prospect, but he certainly looks as if he could use more developmental time in the minor leagues. That’s hardly surprising, as the 22-year-old had topped out at High-A in 2019 before last year’s minors cancellation.
Yonder Alonso Joins MLB Network
Recently retired slugger Yonder Alonso has joined the MLB Network as an on-air analyst, the network announced in a Tuesday press release. He’ll debut as a guest co-host on Intentional Talk this Friday.
“I am beyond thankful to be joining MLB Network’s team, and I can’t thank everybody enough that has helped me get to this point,” Alonso said in today’s press release. “Having just retired, I look forward to having fun and contributing new insights about the game to baseball fans all over the world.”
The 34-year-old Alonso announced his retirement back in November after a 10-year big league career split between the Padres, Athletics, Reds, Rockies, Indians, Mariners and White Sox. The No. 7 overall pick in the 2008 draft, Alonso finished sixth in Rookie of the Year voting with the Padres in 2012 and was an All-Star with the 2017 A’s. He finished up his playing days with a career .259/.332/.404 batting line and an even 100 home runs.
Tommy Pham Leaves Game
Tommy Pham came up limping after grounding out in the second inning of tonight’s Padres game in Los Angeles, per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com (via Twitter). Pham stopped running about halfway down the baseline, clearly uncomfortable. Pham’s reaction, while muted, also suggested that he knew something was off as he reached for his ankle. An Achilles injury is the fear, but the injury appears to be left calf tightness, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). As for tonight, Jorge Mateo took over in left for Pham. Elsewhere…
Latest On Austin Nola
San Francisco has more infield depth than most clubs, though even the Giants’ roster has been stressed with Crawford and Longoria both hurting and Donovan Solano already on the injured list recovering from a calf strain. Mauricio Dubon is the top choice to fill in at shortstop if Crawford has to miss any more time, while Wilmer Flores has been handling third base in Longoria’s absence. It also creates an opportunity for Vosler, who made his MLB debut last night. The 27-year-old was a 16th-round pick for the Cubs back in 2014, and Vosler has spent his minor league career in the Cubs and Padres farm systems, also spending time at San Diego’s alternate training site in 2020.
- Austin Nola could return to the Padres lineup next week, manager Jayce Tingler told reporters (including Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune). Nola has been out since mid-March after fracturing his left middle finger in Spring Training, though Nola is playing games at the Padres’ alternate training site. San Diego has relied upon Victor Caratini and top prospect Luis Campusano to handle catching duties in Nola’s absence, though neither Caratini or Campusano have been very productive at the plate.
Dinelson Lamet Making Progress
Padres right-hander Dinelson Lamet left his season debut Wednesday with forearm soreness and quickly went on the 10-day injured list, leading to concerns that he could require a second Tommy John surgery. A couple days later, those worries seem to be fading. Lamet went through his typical post-start routine Friday, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes, and manager Jayce Tingler called it “a positive day” for the 2020 Cy Young contender. If all goes according to plan over the next week-plus, Lamet could return from the IL when he’s first eligible on May 2.
