SAN DIEGO -- The Padres polished off a four-game sweep of the Rockies with a 7-2 victory on Sunday afternoon at Petco Park. They’ve won five straight and eight of nine. This weekend marked their first four-game sweep of Colorado since 1999.
But those good vibes come with a caveat.
Right-hander Nick Pivetta -- arguably the most crucial member of an already-thin rotation -- exited his start in the fourth inning alongside a team trainer. The Padres later announced that Pivetta had left the game with right elbow stiffness.
The San Diego bullpen locked it down behind Pivetta, and the offense mashed three homers. But needless to say, the Padres can ill afford to lose their Opening Day starter for an extended period of time.
Pivetta’s status uncertain; Padres ‘optimistic’
Afterward, manager Craig Stammen noted that the Padres were “optimistic that we caught it at the right time.”
There was no specific pitch on which Pivetta felt the injury. Rather, his elbow was stiff all afternoon and grew stiffer as the game wore on. He was also under the weather. Stammen wasn’t taking any chances.
“Any time it's someone's elbow, especially a pitcher, it's reason for caution,” Stammen said. “And that's probably why we took him out of the game when we did.”
Pivetta himself offered little clarity.
“I'm not going to get too much into it,” he said. “Just didn't feel great today. Team was able to pull off a great win. Bullpen picked me up big time.”
Pivetta began his day by working three perfect frames, but he appeared to be in some discomfort while facing Edouard Julien leading off the fourth. Pivetta threw a 92.2 mph fastball with his final offering, which was a couple of ticks below his average velocity.
That prompted Stammen and a team trainer to visit a visibly frustrated Pivetta on the mound. After a very brief discussion, Pivetta walked off the field and into the clubhouse.
In Spring Training, Pivetta had a start skipped because of what the team termed “arm fatigue,” though he quickly returned to his regular throwing progression. Stammen indicated the two were likely related.
Replacing Pivetta in the rotation
“There's a world where he makes his next start,” Stammen said -- which is cause for at least some optimism.
Then again, Pivetta is a starting pitcher with an elbow injury. There are many more worlds in which he does not.
In such a case, the Padres have options. Knuckleballer Matt Waldron is currently nearing the end of his rehab stint with Triple-A El Paso. Waldron underwent a medical procedure during Spring Training and wasn’t fully built up to make the Opening Day roster. He would be the heavy favorite to slot into the rotation in Pivetta’s spot.
If Pivetta’s absence lingers, the Padres also have Griffin Canning (left Achilles tear) and Joe Musgrove (Tommy John surgery) on their way back from injury.
“I feel really good,” Stammen said. “We've got guys coming back off the IL here -- Matt Waldron and Griffin Canning at some point. Joe, hopefully, at some point also. And then we've got guys down there like JP Sears that we can call up on the 40-man. I'd feel comfortable with any of those guys taking the ball for us.”
In the short term, maybe. But Pivetta is perhaps the Padres’ top starting pitcher. He was their Opening Day starter and their starter in Game 1 of the postseason last year. He posted a 2.87 ERA last season and finished sixth in voting for the National League Cy Young Award. The Padres need him healthy.
Offense continues to mash
The Padres’ bats picked up the slack on Sunday -- capping a weekend in which they did plenty to answer questions about their inability to slug.
San Diego entered the series with seven home runs through 12 games -- then launched nine over the course of a four-game sweep. Ty France, Ramón Laureano and Jackson Merrill all went deep in Sunday’s finale.
The Padres suddenly seem to be finding a rhythm on offense. They also seem to have found their leadoff hitter in Laureano.
“He’s just tough,” Stammen said. “He doesn’t care. He’s going to take a good at-bat every single time.”
Meanwhile, Stammen’s all-hands-on-deck approach continues to pay dividends. He’s clearly committed to using his entire bench -- and on Sunday, France slotted in and went 3-for-3 with a double and a hit by pitch.
Entering the season, the second most important question about this roster was whether it could tap into its power. So far, so good.
Of course, the most important question was always about rotation depth -- and things suddenly feel precarious on that front.