Nick Pivetta’s path back to the Padres has started to open up again, and the next checkpoint is a bullpen session at Petco Park this weekend with club officials watching closely.
That session is expected to be the clearest indicator yet of where Pivetta stands physically and how San Diego plans to use him. Padres manager Craig Stammen told the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Jeff Sanders and other reporters that the bullpen work “will set him up for his next start, and that is to be determined where he’ll be starting,” while also leaving the door open to a different role. Though Stammen referred to Pivetta as a starter, he added, “I think all those options are on the table.”
Pivetta’s rehab work has already taken a few turns. His assignment was stopped after one outing on August 4 when he exited with elbow discomfort. He later returned to pitch three innings with A-level Lake Elsinore on August 25, then followed that with 4 1/3 shutout innings for Triple-A El Paso on August 30.
The pitch counts have been climbing, too. Pivetta threw 47 pitches in his first rehab outing back, then 64 in the next.
If the Padres send him out for another minor league start, that workload would likely move into the 80-pitch range, assuming the team is still aiming to bring him back as a starter. If he isn’t fully built up by then, San Diego could still deploy him in a shorter outing and pair him with another pitcher behind him in a piggyback setup.
Sanders also noted that a similar plan could be in play for Joe Musgrove, another rehabbing starter who is dealing with arm fatigue between minor league starts.
Pivetta’s season with San Diego before the injury was a short one. He put up a 4.50 ERA over 16 innings and four starts before a flexor strain sent him to the injured list in mid-April. The absence has stretched on longer than anyone around the club wanted, but the expectation remains that he can still factor into the team’s stretch run.
That matters because the Padres’ rotation looks very different now than it did earlier in the year. The deadline additions of Robbie Ray and Casey Mize helped fortify a group that had been battered by injuries for most of the season. Along with staff ace Michael King, Randy Vasquez, and Walker Buehler - who has pitched much better over the last six weeks - San Diego’s rotation has gone from shaky to one of the club’s biggest strengths.
Since the All-Star break, Padres starters have posted a 3.24 ERA, second-best in baseball over that span.
So while a healthy Pivetta or Musgrove may not feel as urgent now as it did two months ago, the Padres still want every bit of quality pitching they can get as the race tightens. San Diego enters Saturday with a half-game lead over the Diamondbacks for the final NL wild card.
In Other News...
Casey Mize Trade Is Suddenly Looking Better For The Tigers
Casey Mize arrived in San Diego at the trade deadline with the kind of profile that can still intrigue a contender: a former top pick with talent, pedigree and a chance to help down the stretch. The Padres took him on August 3 with the hope he could stabilize the staff, but the early returns have been rough. Through six starts, Mize has gone 1-3 with a 6.67 ERA, leaving the deal looking far less like a boost for San Diego than a bet that has yet to pay off.
Detroits side of the trade has been uneven, but it has not been empty. Jackson Wolf has pitched well in Triple-A, giving the Tigers at least one encouraging sign, while Kash Mayfield is currently injured. The overall picture is still fluid, which is what makes deadline deals so hard to judge right away, but for now the Tigers have more reason to feel patient than the Padres do to feel satisfied. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Just Watched A Familiar Yankees Problem Resurface
The Yankees had a jolt of concern in the middle of a game against the Padres when center fielder Trent Grisham exited with right hamstring discomfort after a stolen base attempt. Aaron Boone said imaging is expected to help clarify the injury, and for now the club is treating it as something that appears serious without making any immediate call on an injured list move.
For San Diego fans, it was another reminder of a familiar issue following Grisham around this season, since he had already missed time with a similar hamstring strain. Even before any formal diagnosis, the timing matters for New York because a center fielder trying to stay on the field after one leg issue is now dealing with another, and the next step will tell the Yankees how long they might be without him. [Read more 🡒]
Michael King Can Make The Soto Trade Hurt Yankees Again
The Padres got one of the more useful pieces from the Juan Soto deal in Michael King, and now he gets a chance to line up against the Yankees in the series finale. San Diego has used King as a starter after bringing him over from New York, and the move has paid off in a big way as he has become a steady arm in the middle of the rotation.
King's rise makes the old trade look even more layered for both sides, since the Padres were trying to turn Soto's final year of control into long-term value. A strong outing against his former club would only add to the sense that San Diego extracted real pitching help from a deal that was always going to be judged through more than one lens. [Read more 🡒]