Considering the circumstances, it was always unlikely that the Padres would use a traditional pitching strategy to cover 162 games this year. It's a long season (after a short season), and San Diego's rotation features some serious question marks at the back end.

Sure enough -- as they stared down a 10-game road trip, then seven more games at home before their next off-day -- the Padres made the call to shift to a six-man rotation earlier this week.

That decision has all sorts of ramifications -- a handful of which were felt in Thursday’s 6-5 loss to the Brewers in 10 innings at American Family Field, the Padres’ second extra-inning game in less than 24 hours.

“One moment you feel pretty good,” said Padres manager Jayce Tingler, assessing the state of his pitching staff. “And then all of a sudden you get two extra-inning games, and you don’t feel so good.”

That’s part of the gamble, of course, in the Padres’ recent transition to a six-man rotation. And in their view, the positives far outweigh the negatives.

A six-man staff means extra rest for the four starting pitchers who have carried the rotation this year -- Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Joe Musgrove and Chris Paddack. As the season wears on, and those pitchers endure the novelty of building up to a full season after just 60 games last year, that rest could prove extremely valuable.

It also provides an opportunity for both Dinelson Lamet and Ryan Weathers to make starts, even if both might be limited -- for different reasons -- when doing so. Weathers, for instance, has emerged as an immensely valuable contributor. With his four scoreless innings on Thursday, Weathers now owns a 1.31 ERA through his first 11 career appearances.

But Weathers is 21 and has never thrown more than 100 innings in a season professionally. Ideally, he’ll still be an integral part of the Padres’ pitching plans come September and October. So, how do they walk that tightrope?

“You’re seeing a little bit of it,” Tingler said. “Whether it’s out of the ‘pen or starting, we’re doing the best we can to maximize his innings yet make sure he’s got space and time in between -- understanding it’s going to be a long season, understanding that the innings can stack up quick.

“We’re just trying to keep him healthy, keep him growing, keep developing him at the big league level.”

If nothing else, that project has been a resounding success. The Padres threw Weathers into the fire with a callup for the National League Division Series last October, despite the fact that he’d pitched only 29 games in the Minor Leagues. Now, it looks like he’s here to stay, doing his best to learn on the fly.

“As the season progresses, I’ve found out a lot more about my arm, my body, what I need to do in between each outing and make sure I’m at my best every fifth or sixth day, whatever it is,” Weathers said. “As of right now, today was some of the best I’ve ever felt.”

Indeed, the justifications behind the Padres’ use of a six-man rotation should be self-evident. Same goes for their decision to limit the innings of Weathers -- and those of Lamet, who is building up slowly from the right UCL strain that shut him down last September.

But there are side effects to these decisions -- most notably the extra tax levied on a Padres bullpen that has already been overburdened this year. When Weathers and Lamet shared a spot in the rotation, with one piggy-backing off the other, that tax didn’t exist.

In a way, it came due on Thursday afternoon. Nabil Crismatt allowed two runs in the fifth. Craig Stammen allowed three more in the eighth. Jackie Bradley Jr. walked off Miguel Diaz with a single off the wall in the 10th. Now, the Padres roll into Houston on Friday with a weary relief corps, and they’ll turn to a starter in Lamet who has yet to exceed three innings and 41 pitches this season.

That almost certainly means more heavy lifting for the Padres’ bullpen (and probably some reinforcements before Friday’s game). The good news? San Diego’s relief corps is clearly capable of picking up that slack. Even with Thursday’s blip, the Padres’ 2.52 relief ERA is by far the best mark in the Majors.