The Padres have set their 28-man roster for this week’s NLDS matchup against their divisional gatekeepers, the Dodgers. Here are the details:
Right-Handed Pitchers
- Austin Adams
- Mike Clevinger
- Zach Davies
- Pierce Johnson
- Chris Paddack
- Emilio Pagán
- Luis Patiño
- Garrett Richards
- Trevor Rosenthal
- Craig Stammen
Left-Handed Pitchers
Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
The biggest questions leading up to this series for the Padres surrounded the health of Mike Clevinger and Dinelson Lamet. We have our answers: Clevinger is on the roster, and he’ll start game one, while Lamet will not appear in the NLDS.
The other changes are Allen and prospect Weathers making the roster over Dan Altavilla, Greg Garcia, and Jorge Mateo. Allen is a San Diego native who provides speed and defensive depth in the outfield. Weathers, meanwhile, has yet to make his major league debut – or even pitch above Single-A. The 20-year-old southpaw was San Diego’s #10th ranked prospect on Baseball America’s midseason report. Campusano (#5), Morejon (#7), and Patiño (#2) also appear on both the Padres’ top prospects list and their NLDS roster.
Ryan Weathers … makes me think Morejon will make a start, perhaps as early as tomorrow.
Hopefully Weathers can have the same impact Crochet had for the White Sox.
New arm. Never seen before. Throws heat. It’ll be interesting to see him pitch.
I’m also shocked they are carrying Greg Allen instead of Altavilla or Perdomo as an extra arm.
Perdomo and altavilla provided very little “ bullpen stop” during reg season
LHP are way more effective than RHP against the Dodgers, I think the Padres will need some bulk innings from Morejon, Strahm and Weathers regardless of if they “start”.
They could also open with a righty for an inning or two to get the Dodgers lineup set up for a RHP and then go to Morejon/Weathers/Strahm
for multiple innings to bridge the gap to the rest of the pen.
These games might be boring to watch with 15 pitchers! MLB did the right thing having extra players for the regular season but should have reduced roster size to 25. Could have allowed a three member taxi squad while insisting starters could not move to the taxi squad and limiting pitchers to 13.
Lol I’d be careful how confident you are there
By xwOBA, (how hard they hit the ball and their future expected results because of that)
Only the White Sox as a TEAM had a higher xwOBA vs LHP. It uses exit velocity, launch angle and, on certain types of batted balls, Sprint Speed
I don’t know that I’d be excited to throw a lefty
I’m not saying the dodgers are bad at anything, they had the best record in the NL this year, they’re obviously good against both LHP and RHP. You’re looking at this the wrong way though, it’s irrelevant if they’re better than everyone else besides the White Sox xwOBA against lefties. The only comparison that matters for SD in deciding whether to throw more lefties is the dodgers own team splits.
The question then is, are the dodgers better at hitting against a LHP or a RHP? The dodgers have a team OPS of .778 against LHP and a wRC+ of 113. Against RHP they have a team OPS of .837 and a wRC+ of 126. I don’t have a way to sort xwOBA by splits, but I would venture to guess that the dodgers have a better xwOBA against RHP than LHP.
Statistically as a team they fare better against a RHP, hence why I suggested that SD use more LHP.
No Lament hurts, but having Clevinger is a huge boost. I am curious what their plans are for Ryan Weathers.. will he get a start? I heard he has looked good all year at the alternate training site, but ballsy to put him on the roster.
It just got a little interesting
Greg Allen makes the team. I guess as a PR or defensive replacement in the OF. 3 catchers? I thought for sure Jorge Mateo would make the team as a guy who can fill in at most positions in case someone gets hurt or ejected. I suppose in the infield, Cronenworth can play SS, and other people can move around. In the OF, Greg Allen.
Id have left Moreland off the roster, put Pham at DH, and use Profar in LF. Or Profar at DH being a switch hitter and Pham in LF.
Also would have rather carried another arm instead of Allen or Campusano.
Marvels MagaMan: I am not sure I trust Pham, despite his great performance against St. Louis. Moreland has much playoff experience, for whatever that is worth. I totally agree about Campusano. I kind of agree with you about Allen, but meh.
Moreland did great in the first round.
The problem with that though is another arm would only give you 12 position players so with the DH you would literally have 2 guys on the bench and 1 would have to be a catcher. That really gives you only one guy to pinch hit/pinch run etc… and once they’re gone you’re stuck.
I get that they have versatile enough players to shift positions of someone got hurt but I think 13 position players is the right balance. Gives them a little flexibility for situational moves even if they’re unlikely.
Here’s how I would do the lineup, This way you keep the Dodgers honest by alternating lefties and righties.
SS – Tatis Jr – R
3B – Machado – R
1B – Hosmer – L
RF – Myers – R
2B Cronenworth – L
DH – Pham – R
CF – Grisham – L
C- Nola – R
DH – Profar – S
Bench would be Castro, Allen, Mateo as a pitch runner. I’d leave Campusano off and carry another pitcher.
I would suggest having an LF instead of 2 DH
Moreland HAS to start against and is your big bat pinch hitter when he doesn’t start. His ability to get clutch hits can’t be understated.
Per my original post “put Pham at DH, and use Profar in LF. Or Profar at DH being a switch hitter and Pham in LF.”
I dont have a preference who plays LF or whos at DH.
Cnichols: 12 position players means 3 guys on the bench, not 2. During the 3 games against St. Louis, SD used exactly 10 position players. I think that with the DH, 12 should be enough. Especially since with regular 25 man rosters, 13 is pretty common. Backup catcher Jason Castro did not appear against STL, but with 5 games against LA, he probably does make an appearance.
12 position players would mean 4 guys on the bench as there are only 8 on the field at any given time.
Truthlemonade is right, it would be 3 on the bench.. Bad math on my end, I wasn’t counting the catcher but then was saying it was a problem because of the need to use one of those spots fora catcher. Whoops.
You have to factor in the DH, which takes up that 9th spot, leaving only the 10th, 11th, 12th, spots for bench players. It’s a little more palatable to me with 3 bench guys, but it’s still pretty unbalanced and I think 15 pitchers 13 position players is a good allocation.
Moreland has historically been a dodger killer in playoffs with Boston. I feel like you do tho but maybe we get a little matchup magic
Cnichols: 12 position players means 3 guys on the bench, not 2. During the 3 games against St. Louis, SD used exactly 10 position players. I think that with the DH, 12 should be enough. Especially since with regular 25 man rosters, 13 is pretty common. Backup catcher Jason Castro did not appear against STL, but with 5 games against LA, he probably does make an appearance.
Pads 50: Moreland has only appeared against the Dodgers in the playoffs once, during the 2018 World Series.
In 8 plate appearances, he went 1 -8. That one hit was a pinch hit 3 run homer in a game Boston won 9-6, so it certainly was an important home run.
It was a major HR and he was injured. Moreland had numerous key ABs for the Red Sox and hit .500 in two games in the first round. He does well under pressure.
Marvels you don’t trade for a Veteran DH/PH for the Playoffs and then leave him off the playoff roster.
Campusano is on so Nola can be used elsewhere if necessary.Nolas’ versatility only helps if you have another Catcher.
Shocked Weathers called up before Gore.
It really. Fits with the strategy they have in place. They called up Patino over Gore. Maybe just ironing things out. He is their ace in the whole so to speak. You don’t want to show all your cards yet.
They seem to be waiting until they are 100% sure Gore is ready to pitch out of a major league rotation before making that move. Meanwhile, with Patino and Weathers, they seem willing to call them up and use them where they are needed.
Does gore not have to be protected this year? That could be your answer, they don’t want to have to keep him on the 40
Gore has one more year to go before the Rule 5 draft becomes an issue with him. Weathers would have had two.
Greg Garcia sends his regards
Smelly Cobb: I think SD can live without Greg Garcia for this series. There won’t be much pinch hitting, and they have other guys to cover defensive replacements.
Unless he did something crazy at camp there is nothing to base having Weathers up before Gore.
Reports throughout the year have been Weathers has gotten into better shape, increase in velocity and has generally looked good all year at the alternate training site. Padres evaluate performance at the site and Gore has had some ups and downs so they don’t feel he is ready yet.
Weathers over gore? Wow! I think gore could have been a difference maker in this series since no one on dodgers had seen him pitch. Crazy!
I don’t think anyone on the Dodgers has seen Weathers pitch either lol. Gore has just been inconsistent and hasn’t earned it from what I heard.
Also, maybe the Padres brass do not want to bring up Gore to pitch out of the bullpen. Maybe he takes longer than most to loosen up/get ready and they don’t want to put the extra stress on his arm.
No Dodger has seen Weathers pitch either…..
Yeah but he has also never progressed passed single a. Imagine being 2 years removed from hs and being placed in a high stakes 2nd round match up. Gore has played in triple a makes more sense to bring up this guy than a guy in single a
When did Gore play in Triple
A? 2021?
He hasnt advanced past Double A.
Its not like this is the first time a team has brought in an arm during the playoffs to make their major league debut.
Gore has been a SP all his life, stating him in playoffs against Dodgers not ideal for his MLB initiation.
Gore has like 5 starts in AA, but he does have more time at high A than Weathers. They were both 1st round picks out of HS, Gore in ‘17, Weathers in ‘18, so they’re 21 and 20 respectively.
Realistically they’d both be making big jumps without much experience. The Padres really view Gore as a starter, but apparently with Patino/Weathers they’re more willing to let them throw out of the pen. Seems lower risk to try to get a few good innings from Weathers out of the bullpen than to just have Gore start a potentially do or die playoff game.
In preller we must trust
Gore was definitely an arm i thought theyd bring up for this series
Wow that’s really an interesting move to put a young kid who’s never pitched above A on the roster for a postseason matchup. They must really think highly of him and that lefties are the key to pitching to the LAD lineup. But still… that’s a ton of pressure to put on a young kid to potentially make their debut in a playoff series against the Dodger’s potent lineup. Obviously they aren’t the only team around baseball who has called up a prospect (and even debuted them) thus far this postseason. Definitely an interesting trend and will be fascinating to watch if he winds up playing a key role in a game or two.
Would like to hear some details on actual status of Lamet’s arm. Surprised they left Garcia off for Allen. Glad they didn’t go with Altavilla (questionable trade) and Perdomo. Will be fun to see Weathers (who strikes fear into batters) though it’s hard to imagine they thrust the kid into high-leverage role. Campusano to DH? If not then he’s a merely taking a spot as a PH.
For those focusing on age – Morejon is only about 6 weeks older; Patiño is only about 10 months older.
Gore hasn’t pitched that much above A either.
Consider the possibility that the kid is just emergency/insurance for an extra inning game or other lefties have been used / saving Morejon as a starter.
If they’re going to call up Weathers and clog up the 40-man roster they better actually use him rather than having him ride the pine like Luis Campusano.
Even if they just use Weathers in mop up duty it will be important innings.Any innings the rest of the Bullpen doesn’t have to pitch are important.We don’t have four starters let alone five…so we need to save BP innings for a BP game.
They won’t put him out there in high leverage so I think you nailed it – mop up if necessary to save more critical arms. He also gets great experience. He’s a major talent and has an important role next year.
@Brewer88 I doubt pitching once or twice in mop-up duty is going to be the difference between him eventually succeeding and failing as a major league starter.
Never implied it would, but it won’t hurt him either
It very well could.
I mean, if he gives up 5 runs and doesn’t get an out.. it could kinda mess with him
sure, that could happen. But that could happen to anyone else too and cause irreparable psychological damage. Then again Hurricane Delta might arrive Friday and the stadium collapse. It’s quite a world we live in
@Commonsenseslapsyou he’s the son of a former MLB pitcher and draws rave reviews for his makeup. I seriously doubt that that happening would hurt him.
Although I do agree with Mike that calling up a guy who isn’t Rule 5 eligible to pitch in mop-up duty when the Padres have a whole bunch of prospects that they have to add to the roster this offseason is bad process.
Really, the roster thing is the bigger question mark, I agree
I’m just saying. The playoffs are intense. Y’all pretend it’s impossible to effect young players. It’s amazing how either naive or ignorant you want to be
Ignorance is to put words into the mouths of others. Who said it’s impossible to affect young players? No one has said that here.
Affect young players. Not effect.
Good job Javia. You caught Apple autocorrect and I was more focused on the baseball aspect of the post
Per usual. You’re just looking to troll and start crap. Well done. I’ll let apple know you nailed it
When you have the words of others, Brewers, it’s not ignorance. It’s paying attention and drawing conclusions
Like, when you have a week of the over the top assumptions that all the padre rookies would be as good or better than they were in the playoffs. Or jump from the minors and win a playoff game with their performance. Dodger fans know better than to assume that’s true.
Inexperience, I guess
@mrpadre619 They could have used anyone else in mop-up duty. Someone who was already on the 40-man roster like Michel Baez or someone who has to be added this offseason like Lake Bachar.
they could use anyone to mop up, true. But I’m guessing management has a reason for checking out Weathers now, and they’re not doing this move randomly
I seriously doubt the Padres just brought up Weathers for mop-up duty.
@Brewer88 yeah? I’m sure they had a reason for trading Trea Turner for Wil Myers, Yasmani Grandal for Matt Kemp and Max Fried for Justin Upton too. That doesn’t automatically make them right.
See? That’s exactly what I’m talking about. We got 1 and 1/3 innings out of Weathers in a game we lost anyway and now he’s locked into a roster spot. We can’t take him off the 40-man roster without exposing him to waivers, which he would get claimed by the team with first priority.
Mike – they needed a lefty and with all of the trades the 40 crunch isn’t what it was 2 months ago. I love Báez but lefty is better option against Dodgers.
Just because the roster crunch is a bit lighter than it was before all the trades doesn’t mean Preller can just start handing out 40-man roster spots to everyone and their grandmother. As it is, they definitely have to protect Tirso Ornelas, Reggie Lawson and Tucupita Marcano. Possibly others. And then they will need more 40-man roster spots for any major league free agents they end up signing.
Ah.
The “California thread” – uh?
I’m looking forward to catching some of this series.
2 good teams both with a bunch of pretty fun players to watch. I think we’ll see more postseason matchups between these clubs in the next few seasons.
Cool to see Clevinger on the roster. Dude can sling it, serious.
I don’t really have a horse in this race, fellas. Obviously, it’s tough to pick against the Dodgers.
Me? I’m just looking forward to seeing some good ballgames, man.
I’d like to see the Padres get another crack at their first WS victory but I am really struggling to imagine any way they get past the Dodgers, especially without Lamet.
If they find a way to win tonight or tomorrow it will get really interesting. It’s 2020 and anything can happen (albeit usually bad things). But this is an asterisk WS, I still need to see them do it a legitimate season. Not that I won’t celebrate if they somehow were to pull that off. Paddack might benefit by pitching game 3 on acid, it’s worked at least once in the past.
Hahahaha
It’s an asterisk if the Dodgers win but you won’t care if the Padres pull it off
Classic homer
It’s an asterisk no matter who wins it. Yes, even my beloved Padres.