Awaiting reinforcements, Padres adopt unconventional pitching plan before Deadline

MIAMI -- Here’s the current state of the Padres’ pitching staff: They have two starters -- Michael King and Walker Buehler -- who take the ball every fifth day. They have Mason Miller at the back end of the bullpen.

And then they have 10 other guys they’re asking to cover the rest, whatever it takes.

In case it wasn’t obvious already, the Padres have overhauled their approach to the starting rotation -- out of necessity more than anything else.

They would prefer a traditional five-man rotation. They would love six innings per night from a workhorse starter. Heck, they’re still hoping to get that at some point.

For now, it’s all hands on deck as the Padres try to keep their season alive.

“We’re all under the same understanding that we’ll all be ready to go whenever we’re called,” said starter-turned-long-man JP Sears. “Whatever we need to do to win every day, I’ll be on board.”

Take Saturday for instance. The Padres didn’t name their starter until a few hours before first pitch. Sears was originally tabbed to start, but Randy Vásquez went unused on Friday, even though he was initially in the team’s pitching plans.

The Padres liked Vásquez better against the top of Miami’s lineup. So, they scratched Sears Friday night, then announced Vásquez as the starter on Saturday morning. Vásquez faced the first 10 hitters. Sears got the next 12.

Add it all up, and the Padres got six innings of one-run ball from the duo in a 7-2 win over the Marlins. Not quite a quality start. Certainly a quality piggyback.

“Whatever the team needs,” Vásquez said through interpreter Jorge Merlos.

Think of it this way: The Padres would prefer five capable starters, but for a variety of reasons they just don’t have that. Their rotation ERA is 4.68, better than only the Rockies in the National League. Nick Pivetta, Joe Musgrove and Lucas Giolito are on the IL. A handful of other pitchers -- like Vásquez and Sears -- have struggled in the rotation but held their own in shorter bursts. (They generally get better matchups that way, plus, they only face hitters once or twice, limiting exposure.)

Essentially, the Padres have taken a look at their roster and asked themselves, “What’s the best way to win games with these 13 pitchers?”

This is what they’ve come up with. It’s not changing any time soon.

“That’s going to be the norm here probably, going forward,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “Until we get some reinforcements or find guys that can handle that traditional starting role.”

That’s another important aspect of all this: The Padres aren’t going to ride this strategy for the rest of the season. (Or, at least, they’re not planning to.) When he mentioned reinforcements, Stammen was referring to Pivetta and Musgrove, who took an important step forward on Friday.

That said, they won’t be back until mid-August at the earliest. But there’s another way the Padres could reinforce their iffy starting rotation as the Trade Deadline looms on Aug. 3. As things stand, the Padres sit three games back of the final NL Wild Card spot. If they can assert themselves as buyers, the first thing they’ll go after is starting pitching.

Here’s the catch: In order to assert themselves as buyers, they need to win -- and this is the strategy they’ve chosen.

“I kind of like it, in a way,” said lefty Kyle Hart, who’s been used in every role imaginable. “You show up to the ballpark, and you’re on your toes.”

There are obvious questions about whether this is sustainable. The reality is, it’s probably not -- at least not for the next two months. But might it be sustainable until the Padres get healthier and/or add another starter or two. They’re at least willing to find out.

There’s another caveat to the sustainability aspect. The Padres have reshaped their roster in this direction over the last couple weeks, adding multi-inning arms like Sears and Matt Waldron.

Of course, the offense is part of the equation, too. The Padres’ offense was the worst in baseball over the first 2 1/2 months of the season, but it’s been a top-10 outfit since mid-June.

Why does it matter? Well, when you’re relying on your bullpen, there’s a temptation to overburden high-leverage relievers like Miller and Adrian Morejon. But when you tack on late runs like the Padres did Saturday, you get to avoid them. Waldron was able to nail down the final two innings.

“That’s a big piece of this puzzle,” Stammen said.

Indeed, the whole thing is quite a puzzle. But if the Padres can piece it together, they just might be able to keep this season afloat until the reinforcements arrive -- hopefully sooner rather than later.