The Padres won their fifth consecutive game Monday, improving to 5-0 at a fully reopened Petco Park and 5-3 against the Dodgers this season. Two former Dodgers starred: Yu Darvish became the fastest major-league pitcher to 1,500 strikeouts, and Manny Machado went 3-for-4 with a three-run homer. Jake Cronenworth, an emerging thorn in the Dodgers’ side, also homered. Since a 4-13 stretch, much has gone right for San Diego.
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Still, many fans have taken note of something that is missing: Rookie left-hander Ryan Weathers, who, including the 2020 postseason, has thrown 10 2/3 scoreless innings against the Dodgers, is no longer with the big-league club. In our latest subscriber mailbag, we discuss that and more.
Some questions have been edited for length and clarity.
What’s the logic of sending Weathers down to Triple A if he’s going to log innings down there? Seems like we had an opportunity for him to start on Saturday. Understand if they give him a few weeks off to keep his innings count down, but you’d think the Pads would want to use all of the 100-plus innings he’s allotted this year. Could they have sent him down to adjust to pitching without sticky stuff? — Andrew J.
This is not goo-driven. Weathers has said he doesn’t use sticky stuff, and his below-average spin rates back that assertion. That he has experienced major-league success, albeit in a small sample, speaks to his ability and his advanced command. It also highlights a curious decision. As you point out, the Padres could have started him Saturday instead of having him start the same night in El Paso, where he threw five scoreless innings while San Diego navigated a bullpen game. The Padres could have waited to option him, although that type of move still would’ve raised questions.
The Padres say they made the move in the interest of Weathers’ development as a starting pitcher. They cited Dinelson Lamet’s return to fuller workloads, and a desire to return to a five-man rotation. With Weathers back in relief, he would not have gotten as much opportunity to throw between-outings bullpen sessions, which are indeed essential to starting-pitching development. And there are things the Padres want him to work on. Weathers had a 2.47 ERA, but he also was among the majors’ more fortunate pitchers; while he’d held batters to a .208 average, Statcast put his “expected” number at .275.
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Still, plenty of starting-pitching prospects have broken into the big leagues as relievers or swingmen, and Weathers had shown he can handle those roles. Lucky or not, he had been one of San Diego’s most effective performers. Why, when the Padres are trying to reach the postseason, would they expend his limited bullets in Triple A?
Here is one theory advanced by rival teams: The Padres might be gauging trade interest in Weathers, using Triple-A time to showcase him as a starter. Just about any rebuilding/retooling team should be interested — if Weathers is made available. Of course, the Padres would need a lot to part with a 21-year-old with mid-rotation potential. Like, say, a slugging outfielder and/or a more experienced pitcher with fewer innings restrictions.
Maybe Weathers’ demotion is really about his development in an organization that intends to keep him. Maybe there are other motivations. Either way, this was an interesting decision.
Seems to me a clear area the Padres need to improve is overall production from their outfield. Jurickson Profar looks lost out there (he’s horrible in center) and has been bad at the plate, and Tommy Pham (although he has been heating up at the plate) also has some horrible reads in the outfield. Will the Padres trade for an outfielder or no because of the money they already have tied up in their outfield? — Benjamin S.
Trent Grisham’s return has pushed Profar out of center field and back to a more suitable utility role, and Pham hasn’t been bad in left field, at least according to outs above average. But I do think the Padres would like to reinforce their outfield — more for offensive reasons than defensive ones.
Potential targets include Joey Gallo, Mitch Haniger, Bryan Reynolds and Jesse Winker, who just played a series at Petco Park. None of these outfielders is making more than $6.2 million, which also would make each of them expensive to acquire. As well, their current clubs might not be in a rush to trade them. All of them are controllable beyond this year.
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Much will depend on how the next month unfolds, for other teams and for San Diego. If Grisham, Pham and Wil Myers produce, and if the Padres enjoy relatively good health, they might aim for a lesser but still useful player. I do think they’d like to upgrade their outfield depth. To what extent remains to be seen.
If Fernando Tatis Jr. needs shoulder surgery, is there any info on how long the recovery time is? Four months, five? It is not like Tommy John surgery on rehab time, is it? — Karyn F.
After he jarred his left shoulder Saturday, Tatis looked more than fine Monday. But you bring up a relevant question — Tatis, who has been playing with a slightly torn labrum, has had at least four shoulder instability episodes since the start of spring training, and surgery at some point might be deemed necessary.
If Tatis opts for such a procedure in the offseason, he likely would be able to return by Opening Day. The Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger, after multiple shoulder dislocations, underwent surgery last November. This spring, he took his first Cactus League at-bat in mid-March. That’s a fairly typical timeline for a shoulder-stabilizing operation.
“Generally, we will keep an athlete out of contact sports for somewhere between three to four months,” Dr. Brian Lee, an orthopedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles, said in April. (Lee, who has not treated Tatis, was interviewed after the shortstop partially dislocated his shoulder.) “For full recovery, as far as really getting back and ready to play 100 percent, I would say we’re looking at probably four to six months.”
If Tatis were to compete in the Home Run Derby, do you think he could win? — Matt A.
Many people think he could win if he participates. He has rare power to all fields and a blend of poise and showmanship that would be ideal for the derby.
Now, should he participate? Major League Baseball badly wants the sport’s most marketable player in the contest. Tatis has embraced his role in growing the sport. But he and the Padres also must consider the health of his shoulder and his importance to the team’s second half. Both parties claim they are playing things by ear.
What does the future look like for Myers and Eric Hosmer? Their contracts seemed like liabilities prior to their bounce-back 2020 seasons, and now they’ve regressed again. Does the organization consider them both to be a part of the long-term plan? — Jake S.
Both players have looked better of late; Myers is slugging again, and Hosmer has experienced some poor offensive luck. You’re right, though, that both players have reverted to underperformance this season. Plus, it’s fair to wonder how much of 2020 was a short-season hot streak.
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Given their age and production to date, the Padres do not envision Myers and Hosmer as feature players in their future. Myers will be a free agent after next season. Hosmer can opt out of his contract at the same time, although few evaluators expect he’ll be able to find a more lucrative deal. In the next year or so, there might be a difficult conversation about a potential move to designated hitter.
Still, there is plenty of time for either veteran to make 2021 a positive. And, unlike in past seasons, they no longer occupy a disproportionate amount of the payroll. If Padres chairman Peter Seidler is willing to keep spending, the team can mitigate the effect of a couple of burdensome contracts.
What’s going on with MacKenzie Gore? The numbers are awful, but more concerning, he’s lost all command. Is there legitimate concern within the organization, and if so is that enough to trade him? — Andrew T.
There certainly has been increasing concern over the past year, but I don’t believe the Padres want to sell low on a prospect who still possesses the talent that formerly made him a top-10 prospect in baseball. In simple terms, Gore continues to struggle to sync up his complex delivery; there are enough moving parts where if only one thing goes awry, the result can be significantly skewed. On top of that, he recently dealt with blisters on his throwing hand. They weren’t nearly as bad as the ones that derailed his 2018, but they did not help his attempts to impress early this season.
The Padres continue to work with Gore on his delivery and arm action. Those efforts have been ongoing for months, but the Padres also continue to believe he has the ability to reemerge as a top-10 prospect.
(Photo of Ryan Weathers: Orlando Ramirez / USA Today)
