CARATINI MAKES MOST OF PLAYING TIME
To those not familiar with him, Victor Caratini has been a revelation.
“I’ve always had that ability,” Caratini said. “The thing for me was just having an opportunity. In Chicago, I was behind Willson Contreras. For me, he is one of the elite catchers in the game. I just needed that opportunity, and that’s what I’m getting here.” Indeed, he is. Caratini was the Padres’ starting catcher for the third straight game Monday, something he did only once in his first four big-league seasons.
Initially acquired from the Cubs as part of the Yu Darvish trade, ostensibly to continue being Darvish’s personal catcher and perhaps work another game or two here and there, Caratini has been pressed into starting the majority of games because of the finger injury that has delayed the start of Austin Nola’s season.
From the outset of spring training, pitchers praised Caratini for his earnestly wanting to learn their repertoires and his ability to choose pitches and understand their needs.
He and rookie Luis Campusano were initially alternating games, but Caratini’s start Monday was his seventh in 11 games. He also caught the final four innings of Friday’s game and has played at least an inning in 10 of the past 12 games. He has caught each of closer Mark Melancon’s last four appearances, two that Caratini started and two others he came in to catch Melancon.
This followed some apparent communication issues between Campusano and Melancon in the veteran pitcher’s April 7 appearance.
On Sunday, Caratini caught Blake Snell for the first time. Snell’s start Tuesday in Pittsburgh, which lasted just two-thirds of an inning, featured multiple instances of communication mix-ups between Snell and Campusano.
After that game, Snell took blame for any issues.
On Sunday, he allowed two runs on two hits in five innings and spoke glowingly of Caratini.
“He can call a game with the best of ’em,” Snell said. “We were locked in. It was a rhythm. I understood what he wanted to do, what I wanted
to do. It was really fun. He’s really talented — just a lot of fun to be able to just pitch and know we’re on the same page.”
Any shortcomings by Campusano defensively and in calling games can largely be attributed to his having caught just 142 games in the minors, the last of those in 2019 for Single-A Lake Elsinore.
The expectation was he would begin the season at the team’s alternate site and play in the minor leagues this year. The Padres had to get him ready to catch in a short amount of time.
Campusano is expected to start tonight, catching Chris Paddack for the fourth time. Paddack was complimentary of Campusano after they worked together Thursday in Pittsburgh. One source said the two spent about 90 minutes together going over the game plan the day before that start.
It appears Campusano
will be in the majors for at least another several games, as Nola has not begun playing games at the team’s alternate site. He had been experiencing swelling in his finger after workouts for some time.
That issue has stopped. He returned to San Diego on Monday, hitting and doing throwing drills.
“Next two or three days he should be in game action in Arizona, and we’ll go from there,” manager Jayce Tingler said. “Is that a week of games? A couple games? We’ll see how the rhythm and timing goes. But we’re really encouraged. Finally, we’re at the stage he hasn’t had any setbacks and the doctors feel like it can’t get worse. It’s going to be a matter of playing through pain.”
One thing the Padres will be counting on when Nola returns is some more production from the catcher spot. Caratini is third on the team with eight RBIs, but those have come in just four games
and he is batting .176 (6for-34) with a .256 on-base percentage. Campusano is batting .155 (3-for-26).
Six-man rotation?
Dinelson Lamet’s anticipated season debut, possibly as soon as Wednesday, could result in a temporary expansion of the starting rotation.
That’s because Tingler said rookie left-hander Ryan Weathers will get another start.
“I think there’s a chance we could potentially for these last seven (games before Monday’s day off) — Lamet comes in, we don’t make a change, we go with a six-man (rotation),” Tingler said. “That’s certainly in the air, and that’s going to get us to the off day. … We may add one if everything goes well. But I don’t expect to take somebody out over these next seven.”
Tingler was not ready to announce Lamet’s return but said, “There’s a good chance
he makes his next start and it won’t be in Arizona; it will be with us.”
The team’s soft target since spring training has been this week.
Lamet has been brought along slowly after being unable to pitch in the postseason last year due to elbow discomfort. He has made three starts in the team’s alternatesite games, topping out at five innings and approximately 70 pitches on Thursday, according to the Padres.
That’s the guy
In his fourth game back from the injured list, Austin Adams found his command.
The results were what the Padres have been hoping for since they acquired him from the Mariners in August as part of the seven-player deal that also brought Nola and reliever Dan Altavilla.
Adams entered in Sunday’s sixth inning and struck out Corey Seager, Justin Turner and Will Smith.
“That’s the way Adams can throw the ball,” Tingler said. “It was good to get him going.”
Among his 15 pitches were 13 sliders. Of the eight swings at that dastardly breaking pitch, five were misses.
Adams began the season late after working through some elbow discomfort in spring training. In his first four games (three innings) since coming off the injured list, he had allowed five runs on six hits while getting just eight misses on 24 swings. He also hit a batter in three of the four games.
“He just hadn’t been able to dial it in for a full inning,” Tingler said Sunday. “He made some good pitches and then it (would) run away from him. … I told him before the game, ‘Look, we believe in you. We’re going to keep going.’ I thought today was a great first step. When he’s on, he’s absolutely filthy.”