Perdomo leads patchwork Padres pen past Giants
SAN FRANCISCO — The San Diego Padres got what they wanted from Luis Perdomo on Wednesday night. A little foreshadowing. The right-hander put up three scoreless innings at the start of a game in which the Padres used six more relievers and beat the San Francisco Giants 3-2.
Far more pertinent than the result of the game is what the Padres seem inclined to ask of Perdomo — and a handful of other pitchers — in 2019.
“In the absence of that consistent starting pitching, we’re going to look at inventive ways to overcome that,” manager Andy Green said earlier this week. “We’re going to continue to try to develop guys into front-line starting pitchers. ... But we’ll look at ways to make us more competitive if we have to.”
It appears they could be headed in that direction, at least for a sort of gap year.
What they know is they cannot limp through another season like this one, handicapped so often at the beginning of games by a starting rotation that was among the worst in the major leagues.
Entering Wednesday, Padres starters had the majors’ third-highest ERA (5.15), third-highest batting average against (.274), second-highest on-base percentage against (.345), second-highest WHIP (1.46) and second-fewest quality starts (46).
And while the Padres’ mi-
nor league system seems stocked with promise, it isn’t arriving next year.
Some of what does arrive — such as Chris Paddack — will be on an innings limit.
Rookies Joey Lucchesi and Eric Lauer — whose collective ERA is 4.35 with one start apiece remaining — will enter the spring expected to start. Several others including highly touted prospects Logan Allen and Cal Quantrill will be given every opportunity to make the rotation as well. Clayton Richard, Bryan Mitchell, Jacob Nix and Brett Kennedy will be in the mix, as will Matt Strahm and Robbie Erlin. Dinelson Lamet is expected back from Tommy John surgery before the All-Star break.
That should make for a spirited competition. But it by no means seems to be the makings of a rotation that can battle the Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks 19 times apiece each season.
So Green said this before Wednesday’s game:
“If he can give us two or three strong innings today, you can start to see a role for that kind of guy going into next year as we’ll look to have as much depth as possible out of our pitching.”
Perdomo, who posted a 7.94 ERA in his nine real starts this season, with a demotion to the minors and stay on the disabled list in between, allowed one hit and got through 10 batters in just 43 pitches Wednesday. He threw far more strikes (74 percent) than usual and struck out four.
The Padres took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Wil Myers’ sacrifice fly drove in Freddy Galvis, who had tripled.
Travis Jankowski scored the Padres’ next two runs. In the fifth, he beat out a slow roller and kept to second base on a throwing error, went to third on A.J. Ellis’ ground out and scored on a balk. Two innings later, his solo homer made it 30.
Brad Wieck followed Perdomo with a scoreless fourth inning. Miguel Diaz pitched a hitless fifth and sixth before Jose Castillo allowed a two-run home run to Aramis Garcia in the bottom of seventh.
After Castillo surrendered successive singles, Strahm got the final out of the inning. Trey Wingenter got through a scoreless eighth with help from Austin Hedges spot-on throw to get Hunter Pence attempting to steal second.