San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
TINGLER MUM ON LAMET’S NEXT ACT
When will Dinelson Lamet pitch next?
Your guess is as good as anyone’s outside the Padres organization.
“I’m not going to say,” Padres manager Jayce Tingler said Saturday afternoon. “You’ll see him soon.”
With Lamet last starting Tuesday at Coors Field, he would have been on regular four days’ rest today had the Padres not opted to start lefthander Ryan Weathers in the series finale against the Cardinals. Tingler also declined to say precisely which day Yu Darvish would make his next start (“I expect Monday or Tuesday,” Tingler said.). That leaves the possibility Lamet could start Monday or Tuesday against the Rockies.
But could he follow Weathers, essentially flipflopping the piggybacking that occurred when Lamet last came off the injured list on May 4?
Tingler didn’t rule it out. “There’s a chance he pitches over the next couple days,” he said.
There’s certainly a need in the back of the bullpen with both Drew Pomeranz and Keone Kela on the injured list, and Lamet has been limited to exactly two innings in each of his three starts.
Lamet did not pitch in the playoffs last fall because of a forearm/elbow injury and was slow-played into his return to the mound this spring. He walked off the mound on April 21 after just two innings with forearm tightness, then returned two weeks later and threw two scoreless innings before Weathers came on for the next three innings.
In that start, Lamet scattered four hits without giving up a run and didn’t walk anyone. But he also didn’t strike out anyone and his velocity dipped from a maximum of 97 mph in the first inning to sitting 91-94 mph the next. Seven days later, Lamet’s four-seamer topped out at 94.6 mph and averaged 91.3 mph, well below the 97 mph he averaged en route to finishing fourth in NL Cy Young voting last year.
The slider was off, too, down from 86.5 mph last year to 84.6 in his last start. The usage is also different, as Lamet is throwing more fastballs this year (52.3 percent) than he did in 2020 (37.3 percent).
“I feel like the first inning in the (previous outing), I feel like that first inning was fine and then I started to decrease in that second inning,” Lamet said after Tuesday’s start. “Whereas this outing was the other way around. I started building up into that second inning and I could have gone on to a third or fourth after that.”
A cold, wet day played in the decision to pitch just two innings in his last start. While the Padres are not yet broadcasting what’s next for him, Lamet was at least expecting to increase his pitch count the next time out.
He hasn’t thrown more than 30 pitches in any of his three starts.
“Even with the climate and things like that, it made sense to be a little more conservative after what I was coming off,” Lamet said, “but the plan from here should be to keep increasing the pitch count.”
Familiar faces
The way the Rockies’ rotation is lined up, Monday could be the first time this year Ha-seong Kim faces a starting pitcher (Jon Gray or Austin Gomber) he’s already seen this year.
Of course, he’s plenty familiar with today’s opposition: left-hander Kwang Hyun Kim, who pitched 12 years with the SK Wyverns of the KBO before signing with Cardinals before the 2020 season.
Ha-seong Kim played the first seven years of his pro career in the KBO, five with Nexen and the last two with Kiwoom.
“He’s one of the best pitchers the KBO had,” Haseong Kim said through interpreter Leo Bae. “I can’t wait to face him (today). It’s going to be fun.”
The left-handed Kwang Hyun Kim won 136 games in Korea, posting a 3.27 ERA and 1.33 WHIP and striking out 1,456 batters in 1,6732⁄3 innings. The start to his career in the United States has been rather successful as the 32year-old Kim — the Cardinals’ Game 1 starter last fall against the Padres — is 4-0 with a 2.07 ERA, 48 strikeouts and a 1.11 WHIP.
Overwhelmed at times by the sheer velocity in the majors, the Padres’ Kim figures to have an easier time getting around on Kwang Hyun Kim’s 89 mph four-seamer, although the Padres shortstop sees new wrinkles that he’ll have to dissect before today’s game.
“I’ve been noticing his pitching patterns,” said Haseong Kim, who homered Saturday off St. Louis’ Adam Wainwright on a hanging curveball. “He’s pitching differently in the big leagues compared to the KBO. That’s something I need to work on (today).”
After collecting hits in three straight games, Friday’s 0-for-3 dropped Kim’s batting line to .195/.238/.260. While he continues to make splash plays all over the field, Tingler pointed toward increased familiarity with bigleague pitching potentially leading to a breakthrough at the plate.
Put simply, the Padres didn’t guarantee Kim — a 30homer hitter in his last year in Korea — $28 million to be a defensive specialist.
“I want to start seeing some adjustments at the plate, especially as you start to see the league a little bit,” Tingler said. “Especially as you start to see pitchers a second and third time, et cetera. Obviously, we’re playing a new team (Cardinals) that we haven’t played before this year. It’s a first look, but I think it’s important that guys he’s seen before, start to have a little bit more comfortable at-bats.”
Notable
Placed on the injured list Friday after not pitching in a game since Sunday, LHP
Drew Pomeranz (shoulder) isn’t expected to throw for the next three or four days, Tingler said. With both him and
Keone Kela shelved, RHP
Miguel Diaz began warming in the eighth inning Friday night as RHP Emilio Pagan’s pitch count approaching 30 pitches but ultimately was not needed to finish the inning. Diaz has contributed a pair of three-inning scoreless appearances since joining the roster this month.
• With four starters on the injured list, Saturday was the first time that the Padres started both catchers in the game: Austin Nola at first base and Victor Caratini behind the plate. “We wanted both their bats in there,” Tingler said.