Padres Patchwork Pitching

Padres recall veteran right-hander Morrow
Return to big leagues comes more than year after sustaining shoulder injury 8-13-16
Padres manager Andy Green really needs a reliable long man out of the pen, and Buddy Baumann (5.1 IP, 6.75 ERA, 1.688 WHIP) wasn’t the answer. Plenty of reasons to be skeptical on Brandon Morrow being effective again, but at this point it’s try anything.

Brandon Morrow_RHP

[8/13 Results] James Shields vs. Marlins (ND) 3 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 2 HR, 0 SO
Jared Cosart vs. Mets (ND) 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 SO; 89 pitches, Padres committed 3 errors behind him. Jacob deGrom was a little better. Mets rallied for a run in the 7th inning, off young Padres reliever Jose Dominguez. Brandon Morrow pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning in his 2016 debut. Jeurys Familia brought in to close it out, but 1B Wil Myers homers with 2 outs, tying it at 2-2. Bullpen wars until the Mets manufacture a run in the 11th, winning 3-2.

Current 6-man rotation, all numbers with Padres through 8/13:

Age 28 LHP Christian Friedrich 4-8 W/L, 4.84 ERA, 87.1 IP, 1.489 WHIP
Age 23 RHP Luis Perdomo 5-6 W/L, 6.80 ERA, 94.0 IP, 1.862 WHIP
Age 32 RHP Edwin Jackson 3-1 W/L, 3.62 ERA, 32.1 IP, 1.237 WHIP
Age 28 RHP Paul Clemens 1-2 W/L, 4.03 ERA, 22.1 IP, 1.299 WHIP
Age 26 RHP Jared Cosart 0-0 W/L, 5.03 ERA, 14.1 IP, 1.560 WHIP
Age 32 LHP Clayton Richard 0-0 W/L, 6.75 ERA, 1.1 IP, 3.000 WHIP

Padres starting pitching is already scary bad, keeping in mind that Perdomo & Friedrich need to be shut down by September, or so. Edwin Jackson may well end up as their second-most valuable starter (after Drew Pomeranz– traded to BOS) when the season is over. Cubs are paying the last of his 4/$48M deal, which is nice.

RHP Edwin Jackson & GM Jed Hoyer

Jared Cosart is the intriguing project for Balsley & Green, so Padres fans are looking (hoping) for improvement. He’ll be in the 2017 rotation mix.  Paul Clemens is a long-shot at best, but the Padres are happy to have him. Clayton Richard is a usable arm to help finish this season, while reducing the workload on their young starters and relievers.

Ryan Buchter_lefty reliever

Righty set-up men Brandon Mauer & Jose Dominguez, and lefties Ryan Buchter (pictured above) & Brad Hand are valuable bullpen pieces. They also can’t be overworked. Brandon Morrow (and his like) are on the active roster to get the Padres through the season, so later effectiveness & health aren’t compromised in these young relievers. GM A. J. Preller & Andy Green have a lot more pieces in place, compared to one year ago. They just need to protect their young arms, and develop a few more.

Padres power up, hold off rally to top Mets 8-12-16
Andrew Cashner tonight 5 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 5 BB, L to CWS. In 16 1/3 innings since joining the Marlins, Cashner’s ERA is 6.61, allowing 22 hits and 12 earned runs. Next it’s James Shields against the Marlins; so far 3-7, 6.62 ERA in 62 IP for the White Sox. [see results above] Drew Pomeranz 0-2, 5.26 ERA in 5 starts, 25.2 IP for BOS. Fernando Rodney 1-2, 5.40 ERA 18,1 IP has also been a disaster for the Marlins bullpen. The waivers pick-ups (Edwin Jackson & Paul Clemens) have been better pitchers for the Padres.

RHP Paul Clemens

Nice work by Padres GM A.J. Preller, who has scraped up enough starters (three from the Marlins: Jackson, Clemens & Cosart) to get his young arms through the season, while maximizing their development.  If he needs more, he’ll find them.

Padres, Clemens eye turnaround at Citi Field 8-12-16
Padres have Clemens going for them tonight at Citi Field.  Game on, Mets fans!

Piazza-Clemens 2

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