Padres Announce Surprise Starter For Nats Game Today

The San Diego Padres made a surprising announcement after their 4-3 win over the New York Yankees yesterday, naming right-hander Nick Pivetta as the starter for today’s game against the Washington Nationals at Petco Park. 

Pivetta has been out for five months with a flexor strain in his right elbow, and his rehab hasn’t been going well at all, so this is a stunning developement. He did strike out seven in his final rehab start at Triple-A El Paso in 4-1/3 scoreless innings, per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com, but it’s been a slow go for both Pivetta and fellow starter Joe Musgrove as they try to return to the rotation. 

“His last outing, seeing the fastball command that he had and the command of all his pitches -- his curveball got a little bit better,” said manager Craig Stammen as he explained the rationale behind the move.  “He got his pitch count up to a spot that we felt comfortable bringing him up to the big leagues and seeing what he has.”

If this sounds like a desperation move, that’s because it is. The Padres haven’t been getting anything close to the length they were expecting from trade acquisitions Robbie Ray and Casey Mize, with Mize being especially disappointing. 

Don’t expect a long outing, however. Pivetta threw 64 pitches in his final rehab start, and he’ll probably be a on a similar pitch count. The Padres would probably be ecstatic with three good innings, and anything beyond that would be icing on the cake. 

“We saw what his last outing was,” Stammen said. “It’s going to be something similar to that. Maybe if he’s rolling and feeling really good, it’s another little bit added to that.”

This move is also a “now or never” acknowledgment with Pivetta. He’s been trying to get back for months, and the Padres are running out of season. They’ve been flip-flopping with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the race for the third wild card, and there are now less than 20 games left. 

The move also buys the Padres an extra day for Randy Vasquez, who was originally scheduled to start today. He’s been part of the “all hands on deck” crew, and an extra day of rest would definitely help him, although Stammen did announce that he'll continue to go with a five-man rotation. 

“Randy was in the bullpen today, available to pitch,” Stammen said after the game against the Yankees. “He’ll be available to pitch tomorrow and going forward. He’s a part of this equation, too.”