San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
HOSMER IN; CLEVINGER OUT
Friars first baseman activated, but starter has biceps tightness
Eric Hosmer returned. Mike Clevinger was held out.
Just 12 days after fracturing the index finger on his left hand, Hosmer was reinstated from the injured list Saturday and started at first base against the Mariners.
Clevinger was scratched from his scheduled start in the game due to “tightness” in his right (throwing) bicep. Rookie Luis Patiño was called up to start in his place.
“He felt good through his last start,” Padres manager Jayce Tingler said. “He came in the next day with the normal tightness in there. It’s just been a little bit tighter than usual. It hasn’t quite gone away. He’s probably at 90, 85 percent. We’re just being probably extra cautious more than anything. Just give it another couple days and go from there.”
Tingler said the Padres are “very confident” Clevinger will be ready for the postseason.
If Clevinger starts Tuesday against the Angels and Sunday in San Francisco, that would seemingly preclude him from being the Padres’ starter in their first playoff game Sept. 30 unless the second start was a glorified bullpen session.
“It’s one, potentially two (starts),” Tingler said. “That second one may not be 100 pitches. It may be a lighter load.”
Clevinger threw seven shutout innings in his last start and has a 3.00 ERA and 0.94 WHIP since being acquired from the Indians in an Aug. 31 trade.
It had seemed the rotation was set up to have Clevinger start the opener and Dinelson Lamet the second game in the best-ofthree wild card series.
But the Padres always had flexibility given their two off-days in the coming week. While Clevinger lined up to pitch Game 1 by his turn in the order, Lamet is scheduled to start Sunday against the Mariners and lines up to pitch again Friday on four days’ rest, and five days after that would be Sept. 30.
The good side of the injury news was Hosmer’s return, which had been expected for a couple days as he continued to ramp up his activity. He took live at-bats at the team’s alternate training site the past two days. The location of the fracture for the left-hander was fortunate in that the index finger does not absorb as much pressure as other fingers when hitting. The final hurdle was throwing, a test Hosmer passed Friday.
“Feel like today is a good day to get up and going,” Tingler said.
Hosmer was hitting .288 with a. 344 on-base percentage when he was hit on the finger by a pitch while squaring to bunt against the shift. He had a .956 OPS in his previous 14 games.
This was Hosmer’s second stint on the IL after having been sidelined by injury just once in his first nine seasons.
His return follows Friday’s reinstatement of Tommy Pham after 28 games down following surgery to repair a fractured hamate bone in his left hand.
Pham went 1-for-3 with a walk as designated hitter Friday. He was at DH again Saturday.
“Those are two huge pieces to our team,” infielder Greg Garcia said. “… We’re happy to have them back in the lineup.”
The Padres optioned catcher Francisco Mejía and reliver Luis Perdomo to make room for Hosmer and Patiño on the active roster.
kevin.acee@sduniontribune.com
Padres 6, Mariners 1