CLEVINGER EXTOLS STARTING DEPTH
Mike Clevinger was part of some strong starting rotations in Cleveland.
He was one of two starters to throw 200 innings and one of four to throw at least 175 innings in 2018. He was there for Corey Kluber’s Cy Young season in 2017 and half of Shane Bieber’s Cy Young campaign in 2020.
He is proud of what that group, that also included Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer for a time, did in those years.
But the group he’s working with now is something else.
“I’ve never been a part of anything this deep,” he said. “I mean, we have seven guys that could potentially do that (get close to 200 innings) on a good year. I’m obviously biased, but I don’t think you could look anywhere in the league and see that.”
The Padres were never going to get their 11th straight start of six innings Sunday — not unless Clevinger somehow went that deep in 65 pitches, which was his ceiling in his first start back from a 15-day stay on the injured list.
But Clevinger and Nick Martinez did, in effect, combine for a quality start in the Padres’ 6-4 victory over the Brewers.
Clevinger started and allowed a home run to Kolten Wong, the first batter he faced, before getting through three innings without
giving up another hit. Martinez came in and pitched four scoreless innings before allowing a tworun homer to Wong, the final batter he faced, in the eighth inning.
“Just combined quality,” Clevinger said.
It probably won’t be the last time.
As Clevinger alluded to, the Padres have seven starting pitchers. They plan, for at least the next couple weeks at least, to use a sixman rotation. Martinez, who has started eight
games, is the long reliever for now.
Padres starters have thrown the most innings (310), have the fourth-lowest ERA (3.11) and have yielded the fourth-lowest WHIP (1.12) and thrown five more quality starts (31) than any other rotation in the major leagues.
Filling right
Right fielder Wil Myers will see a specialist today regarding his ailing right knee, and the expectation by multiple sources familiar with
the situation is he will need arthroscopic surgery that will keep him out about a month.
That leaves a hole in right field.
While manager Bob Melvin indicated Jose Azocar has earned more playing time, it remains likely that left-handed Nomar Mazara starts against right-handed pitchers.
“Maz was swinging really well,” Melvin said in reference to the 1.095 OPS Mazara had in Triple-A before being recalled Thursday.
“I like the tandem of it right now. There are other places I could use Maz. Like today, I don’t necessarily need to hit him for Azocar. I can hit him somewhere else. I don’t want him to sit around too long. He’s been swinging the bat really well, so they’ll both get their time.”
Azocar, who bats from the right side, has made all but four of his starts against left-handers. However, the rookie is actually faring better against right-handers.
Azocar was 1-for-4 Sunday and is batting .275 with a .329 on-base percentage this season after going 10-for-27 over his past 12 games.
Notable
Fernando Tatis Jr. is expected to have another CT scan on his left wrist, and the Padres are optimistic this one will show enough healing that he can begin swinging. The belief is he can return by the end of the month or in early July. Melvin and others have said the duration of his ramp-up will largely depend on how quickly he gets into a rhythm at the plate. Asked how long he thinks it will take him to get ready and be his usual self, Tatis chuckled and said: “I don’t know, but it won’t take that long.”
Outfielder Brent Rooker was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Clevinger on the roster. Rooker was recalled Friday to replace Myers.