The Padres announced Wednesday that they’ve placed left-hander Matt Strahm on the 10-day injured list due to a rib strain. They’ve also optioned lefty reliever Brad Wieck to Triple-A, recalled right-hander Cal Quantrill and reinstated righty Miguel Diaz from the 60-day injured list. San Diego has not yet announced a corresponding 40-man roster move for Diaz, but its 40-man was previously full, so another move will need to be announced in the near future.
Strahm, 27, has had a solid season with the Padres after moving from the bullpen in 2018 to a full-time rotation gig in 2019. Through 11 starts, he’s totaled 60 1/3 innings of 4.04 ERA ball. Along the way, the former Royals southpaw has averaged 8.4 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9, though his elevated 1.49 HR/9 and a below-average 36 percent ground-ball rate are less encouraging. Strahm is already just one inning shy of his 2018 total, so his workload moving forward will be worth monitoring. While the Friars are surely comfortable with a hefty step up in terms of innings count, it’s also unlikely that Strahm is ticketed for a full slate of 30-plus starts and 180-plus innings, even if today’s IL placement proves short-term.
With Strahm sidelined at least temporarily, the Padres will lean on Joey Lucchesi, Chris Paddack, Eric Lauer, Nick Margevicius and, presumably, Quantrill in the rotation. It’s an inexperienced group but one that has been mostly effective. Margevicius is the lone member of the group who has struggled substantially, but even in his case, most of the damage done against him has been confined to his three most recent outings.
In Diaz, the Padres will welcome back a hard-throwing 24-year-old righty who has been on the shelf all season so far due to a torn meniscus. Diaz hasn’t found big league success yet, but he averages better than 95 mph on his heater and picks up roughly a strikeout per inning. He has minor league options remaining, so if the control issues he’s experienced at the MLB level (5.5 BB/9 in 60 1/3 frames) persist, he can be sent down without risk of being exposed to waivers.
We need Lamet on the double!
Great to get a look at Diaz for the first time this year…. what we really need is Jose Castillo back in the pen. Best reliever we have outside of Yates
Strahm is just getting rest and saving innings