The Padres’ bullpen took another hit on the eve of Game 3, and this one lands harder than most.
Mason Miller has been placed on the postseason paternity list, which means the All-Star closer will not be available tonight against the Brewers in the NLDS. MLB Communications announced the move on X, and San Diego will fill Miller’s spot on the active roster with Wandy Peralta while he is away from the club for a minimum of one day.
That’s a brutal development for a Padres team already dealing with the ripple effects of the paternity list in this series. Veteran starter Walker Buehler missed the first two games of the NLDS for the same reason, forcing San Diego to go with Robbie Ray in Game 1. Buehler was officially back on the roster yesterday, but now the Padres are losing their biggest bullpen weapon at exactly the wrong time.
Even after Miller’s shaky ninth inning in Game 2, when he lost his command and gave up the walk-off single to Jackson Chourio, the right-hander still stands as the most overpowering closer in the game and the key piece in Craig Stammen’s bullpen. He threw 40 pitches on Sunday afternoon, and with Monday’s off-day plus the postseason setting, he likely would have been available again in a save spot tonight.
Instead, the Padres have to redraw the late-inning plan.
That matters even more with Nick Pivetta on the mound for Game 3. Pivetta missed much of the regular season with an elbow injury and has not gone beyond 87 pitches since coming off the IL in early September, which points to a night where San Diego could lean heavily on relief help. The Padres do have options - Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam, Bragdley Rodriguez, and Yuki Matsui among them - but the absence of Miller changes the shape of those innings and may push relievers into roles they don’t usually handle.
For Milwaukee, the path is cleaner now. The Brewers are trying to finish off San Diego tonight, and they won’t have to deal with Miller in the late innings. It’s not yet known whether he could be available for a potential Game 4 on Wednesday night, but for Game 3, the Padres will be without their biggest bullpen weapon.
In Other News...
Brewers Padres Series Just Got A Petty New Edge
The Brewers have found a little October edge of their own at home, turning to elevator music during opponents batting practice as part of the postseason chess match that tends to show up once the calendar flips. It is the kind of harmless but pointed gamesmanship that feels right for this time of year, when every club is looking for some small way to unsettle the other side before the games start counting in earnest.
San Diego answered in kind at Petco Park, piping elevator music over the speakers while Milwaukee was on the field for an off-day workout. It was a playful jab rather than anything heavy-handed, but it adds a petty little wrinkle to the series and underscores how thin the margins can get when two teams are looking for any edge, even one that sounds more like a department store than a ballpark. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Just Got A Game 3 Opening Padres Fans Hate
The Padres will have to reshuffle their lineup for Game 3 of the NLDS against Milwaukee after Gavin Sheets was scratched from the starting nine with a stiff neck. He is still available off the bench, but Samad Taylor will take his place in the batting order as San Diego tries to stay alive in a must-win matchup on the road.
Nick Pivetta is set to start on the mound for the Padres, giving San Diego a familiar arm as it tries to extend its season. It will be his second postseason start since returning from injury, and the Padres are banking on him to help steady a lineup that has already lost one key bat before the first pitch. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Had A Strange Game 1 Warning That Suddenly Looks Huge
Rainy conditions forced the Brewers to close the roof at American Family Field for Game 1 against the Padres, and what looked like a routine weather decision turned into one of the defining moments of the night. A ball hit the roof and stayed in play long enough for Jackson Chourio to make the catch, turning the strange carom into an out that helped Milwaukee hang on for a 3-2 win.
Chourio then showed up again in Game 2, this time delivering the walk-off single that sent the Brewers home with another victory and a 2-0 lead in the NLDS. In a series where the smallest details have already mattered, the roof call from the opener suddenly looks like more than a footnote for Milwaukee. [Read more 🡒]