The San Diego Padres were hoping Nick Pivetta could give them five innings, but Pivetta got hit hard early and often.
The San Diego Padres were hoping to leave their starting pitching problems behind for at least one day, but they surfaced early and severely as new manager Craig Stammen lost his managerial debut to the Detroit Tigers, 8-2.
Tigers ace Tarik Skubal was unhittable when it counted as he struck out six and gave up just one unearned run in six innings, but Padres starter Nick Pivetta looked every bit like a pitcher who didn’t get to throw a lot of innings and do a proper buildup in spring training due to arm fatigue.
“A great pitcher, a good test for us on Opening Day,” said Craig Stammen, focusing on Skubal in a piece written by AJ Cassavell of MLB.com as he became the third consecutive Padres manager to lose his debut. “He proved who he was.”
Pivetta, meanwhile, struggled across the board. He walked in a run with the bases loaded and made mistakes early and often, leaving pitches up in the zone that the Tigers didn’t miss. Rookie third baseman Kevin McGonigle was the hitting star for Detroit with four hits in his big-league debut, but Pivetta threw just 42 strikes in 69 pitches and provided plenty of opportunities for Tigers hitters.
“Disconnected, out of rhythm, didn’t make pitches when I needed to,” Pivetta said.
Padres hitters went just 1-for-19 against Skubal other than shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who had a pair of hits, but that’s not exactly surprising. This lineup will hit, even though the lone bright spot was a home rum from Ramon Laureano in the seventh inning with the game long out of reach.
But Pivetta’s start “felt ominous,” to use Bollinger’s words, and the bullpen had to pick up six innings when Pivetta left after the third. Reliever Bradgley Rodriguez celebrated making the roster by striking out three in two scoreless innings, but the Padres play three straight games to open the season, which means the ‘pen is already behind the eight ball.
Michael King will get the start tonight as the Tigers counter with newly-signed pitcher Framber Valdez, and it’s hard to imagine King going much more than three innings after his struggles late in spring training. The Padres get a rare Sunday off after the series against Detroit, but the bullpen will almost certainly be taxed in what could be a preview of coming attractions.
The wins and losses don’t matter much right now, but the balance between the bullpen and the rotation does. Stammen could have a tough go of it if he can’t get innings from his starters, and no one knows quite how that’s going to happen right now.