Dinelson Lamet

Dinelson Lamet’s right arm has been an injury concern for the better part of a year, but the Padres hurler has now hit another roadblock in his recovery from forearm inflammation.  Manager Jayce Tingler told reporters (including The Athletic’s Dennis Lin) that Lamet underwent a procedure yesterday to have a hip infection “cleaned out,” and it will result in more missed time.  “It’s gonna be a little while, because they had to go in and cut some things out,” Tingler said.  “Is that a week or 10-day setback?  I don’t know yet.”

While Tingler’s mention of a 7-10 day timeframe would seemingly indicate that this might not be a major delay for Lamet, there is obviously still uncertainly, considering that Lamet will have to recover from this procedure on top of his planned forearm rehab.  Lamet began a minor league rehab assignment on August 4 that has consisted of one in-game appearance and a pair of live batting practice sessions.  Since the Padres were already planning to bring Lamet back as a reliever rather than as a starter, he didn’t need to build as much strength in his arm, so there was some thought that Lamet might have been activated off the injured list within a week or so.

Lamet suffered a UCL strain near the end of last season, which delayed his 2021 season debut until April 21.  From there, he had a 10-day stint on the IL due to forearm inflammation prior to his current injured list visit, which began on June 27.  All in all, Lamet has tossed only 34 1/3 innings, and his absences have been a major factor in the Padres’ lack of rotation depth.

When Lamet has pitched, he has performed pretty well — a 3.67 ERA/3.88 SIERA and above-average strikeout and walk rates, though opposing batters were making a lot of hard contact against the right-hander’s offerings.  While it represents a step backwards from Lamet’s outstanding 2020 numbers, it certainly stands to reason that he can be a big weapon out of San Diego’s bullpen, once he eventually gets back onto a big league mound.

Before this afternoon’s game against the Diamondbacks, the Padres placed right-hander Dinelson Lamet on the 10-day injured list with inflammation in his throwing forearm. James Norwood was recalled from Triple-A El Paso to replace him on the active roster.

Lamet left last night’s start in the third inning due to what manager Jayce Tingler called forearm “fatigue.” Today’s diagnosis of inflammation is a bit more concerning at first glance, although the team has yet to provide any other update.

It’s the continuation of a rather alarming series of arm issues for Lamet, who underwent a Tommy John surgery in April 2018. His breakout 2020 season was ended early after he felt biceps discomfort in his final regular-season start last September. The Padres played things cautiously with Lamet, bringing him along slowly and having him begin this season on the injured list. The 28-year-old returned in late April but left his first start with forearm soreness. He was back by early May but is now dealing with renewed issues in the area.

In between the injuries, Lamet has shown top-of-the-rotation ability. He pitched to a pristine 2.09 ERA/3.16 SIERA across 69 innings during last year’s shortened season, earning him a fourth-place finish in NL Cy Young award balloting. Lamet hasn’t quite pitched at that level this season, but he’s again been effective. Through 34 1/3 frames, he’s worked to a 3.67 ERA/3.82 SIERA. Ryan Weathers, recently optioned to Triple-A, looks likely to be recalled to assume Lamet’s rotation spot while he’s out.

JUNE 27: Lamet felt some “fatigue in his forearm area” and had trouble getting the feel for his slider, manager Jayce Tingler said after the game (via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com). It’s not yet clear whether an injured list stint is under consideration.

JUNE 26: Dinelson Lamet was pulled after just 2 1/3 innings from his start tonight against the Diamondbacks, per MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell (via Twitter). The trainer came out to the mound after an apparent dip in velocity, and Lamet was removed from the game.

The Padres are on high alert when it comes to Lamet’s injury status. A UCL strain delayed Lamet’s start to the season. Forearm inflammation ended his first start of the season after just two innings. The Padres have remained conservative, limiting Lamet to three innings or less in each of his first six appearances. Only in June was he stretched out to four and five innings per start.

Watching his innings has worked in terms of performance. Lamet owns a 2.81 ERA/2.77 FIP in 32 innings with a 27.2 percent strikeout rate and 8.1 percent walk rate — both of which are better than league average. Those numbers did not hold against the last-place Diamondbacks on Saturday night, however, as he surrendered four earned runs on six hits — including two home runs — in 2 1/3 innings. He recorded one strikeout.

5:20pm: San Diego announced that it has optioned righty Miguel Diaz to its alternate site to clear room for Lamet.

4:39pm: The Padres have activated right-hander Dinelson Lamet from the 10-day injured list, per a team announcement. He’ll start their game against the Pirates on Tuesday.

This will be the first start since April 21 for Lamet, who was making his season debut then. Lamet exited that appearance after just two innings with forearm tightness, leading to fears that he would require a second Tommy John surgery. Fortunately for him and the Padres, he was able to quickly work his way back from the injury.

The past several months have been difficult from a health standpoint for Lamet, whose 2020 season came to an end in late September when he suffered a UCL strain. Before that, Lamet enjoyed a breakout year with 69 innings of 2.09 ERA pitching and a 34.8 percent strikeout rate against a 7.5 percent walk rate. That stellar performance led to a fourth-place finish in National League Cy Young balloting.

Even with almost no contributions from Lamet this year, the Padres have begun a solid 17-13 – one game back of the NL West-leading Giants. San Diego’s starters have put up a stingy 2.81 ERA through the team’s first 30 games.