Ryan Weathers

Looking At The Padres’ Rotation Options

By Darragh McDonald | January 12, 2023 at 8:48pm CDT

The Padres have been quite aggressive in recent years on all fronts, from signing free agents to trading for stars and extending their own players. That has shot their budget up to record heights, with Roster Resource currently estimating their payroll at $250MM. Up until a few years ago, they had only barely nudged past the $100MM mark, jumping to $174MM in 2021 and $211MM last year, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

Despite all that aggression, they’re going into the season with uncertainty in their rotation, both in the short-term and long-term. They should have a strong front three this year in Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish and Blake Snell. That leaves two question marks at the back, since Mike Clevinger and Sean Manaea reached free agency and signed elsewhere. Darvish and Snell are both slated to reach free agency after this year, opening up more holes in the future. MacKenzie Gore’s inclusion in the Juan Soto trade also weakened the future outlook. So, who do they have on hand to step up and take these jobs? Let’s take a look at the candidates.

Nick Martinez

Martinez, 32, spent four seasons in Japan and parlayed that into a four-year deal with the Padres going into 2022, a deal that allowed him to opt out after each season. Last year was a mixed bag for Martinez, as he logged 106 1/3 innings with a 3.47 ERA. That’s solid production overall but it came in the form of a 4.30 ERA over 52 1/3 innings as a starter and a 2.67 mark in 54 innings as a reliever.

Martinez opted out and re-signed with the club on another deal, this time on a three-year pact. The details are unusually complex as there are plenty of incentives, as well as a dual club/player option structure. Whether he can find better results as a starter this time around remains to be seen. It’s certainly a risk for the Friars but at least it seems he comes with the floor of helping out the bullpen.

Should Martinez truly establish himself as a starter, the club will be able to keep him around. Martinez will get paid a $10MM base salary this year and the team will then have to decide whether or not to trigger two $16MM club options for 2024 and 2025, essentially a two-year, $32MM extension. That affords them a bit more control over his future than his previous opt-out laden deal. However, if Martinez does not have a successful campaign and they turn down that option, he will get to decide whether or not to trigger two player options valued at $8MM each, essentially a two-year, $16MM extension. That gives the Friars upside and downside potential in the pact. Those dollar figures can also reportedly change based on incentives, though the exact details aren’t known.

Seth Lugo

Lugo, 33, is a somewhat similar situation to Martinez, as he could potentially wind up in the rotation or in the bullpen. He made 23 starts in 2017-18 but only seven since, largely working as a reliever. That move was at least partially motivated by a “slight” tear that was discovered in his right ulnar collateral ligament in 2017.

Regardless, Lugo has served as an effective reliever since then, posting a 3.56 ERA over the past two years, and there’s some hope that his five-pitch mix can help him transition back into a rotation. It’s another risky move that the Padres were willing to take, giving Lugo two years and $15MM, with Lugo able to opt-out after the first. He hasn’t topped 80 innings in a season since 2018 and it’s hard to know how smooth this switch will be.

If it goes well, there won’t be any long-term upside for the club, since Lugo will make a $7.5MM salary but can opt out of the same figure for 2024. If the experiment works, he’s likely to return to free agency and find a larger guarantee. If it fails, the Padres will still be on the hook for another season.

Adrián Morejón

Morejón, 24 in February, has long been one of the most exciting pitching prospects in the league. Baseball America placed him on their top 100 list for five straight years beginning in 2017. Various injuries slowed him during his ascent to the majors and he’s yet to even pitch 70 official innings in any season of his career, majors or minors or combined.

Tommy John surgery in April of 2021 wiped out most of that season. He returned to health in 2022 but pitched in relief. The club reportedly still views him as a starter but he will likely have workload concerns this year. Between the majors and the minors last year, he logged 47 1/3 frames. He should be able to push that up now that he’s further removed from the surgery, but getting to a full starter’s workload would be a lot to ask. He has just over three years of MLB service time now, giving him the ability to provide some long-term help to the club’s rotation if he stays healthy and makes good on his prospect pedigree in 2023.

Jay Groome

Groome, 24, was a 12th overall pick of the Red Sox in 2016. He was once a highly-touted prospect but has hit various speed bumps. Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2018 and most of his 2019, which was followed by the minors being canceled by the pandemic in 2020. He has since returned to health and posted decent results but with some of the prospect shine having worn off.

In 2022, which included a trade to the Padres in the Eric Hosmer deal, he pitched 144 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. The 3.44 ERA is nice, but his 22.8% strikeout rate is right around average and his 10.4% walk rate was on the concerning side. He’s yet to reach the majors and arguably has the greatest chance to provide future value to the club with his six seasons of control and one remaining option year.

Brent Honeywell Jr.

Honeywell, 28 in March, is also a former top prospect. A Rays draftee, he was on BA’s top 100 in five straight seasons from 2016-20. Similar to Morejón and Groome, injuries have prevented him from reaching his potential thus far. Tommy John surgery in 2018 put him on the shelf and he has dealt with various setbacks since then. He was healthy enough to toss 86 innings in 2021 between Tampa Bay and Triple-A Durham, with the club then dealing him to Oakland. However, more injury setbacks resulted in just 20 1/3 minor league innings for the A’s last year.

Honeywell seems to be healthy again at the moment, as he’s tossed 28 innings in the Dominican Winter League. His 0.96 ERA in that time seems to have been enough to impress the Padres, as they signed him to their 40-man roster last week. It would make for a terrific bounceback story if he were to finally put it all together, but it’s hard to bank on him after hardly pitching in the past five years. He still has less than a year of service time, giving the Padres plenty of upside if it all clicks, but Honeywell is also out of options and will have to produce in the big leagues right away to hang onto his roster spot.

Reiss Knehr/Pedro Avila/Ryan Weathers

These three are all on the 40-man roster and warrant a mention, though they are unlikely to be called upon except in an emergency. All three of them have gotten some big league time in recent seasons, getting fairly brief showings in swing roles. Weathers probably has the most upside of the trio since he’s just 23 whereas the others are going into their respective age-26 seasons. Weathers was considered a top 100 prospect going into 2021 but he has a 5.49 ERA in the big leagues so far and posted a 6.73 ERA in 123 Triple-A innings last year, getting bumped to the bullpen as the season wore on.

Wilmer Font

Font, 33 in May, is a real wild card. He was a journeyman in the majors for many years but went to Korea to play in the KBO in 2021. Over the last two years, he’s been pitching at an ace level for the SSG Landers. He made 25 starts in 2021 with a 3.46 ERA and then 28 starts last year with a 2.69 mark. In that latter season, he got strikeouts at a 23.3% rate, walking only 4.7% of batters faced and he got ground balls on 51.6% of balls in play.

Success overseas doesn’t always translate to success in the majors, but Font wouldn’t be the first pitcher to underwhelm in North America but then return after a breakout elsewhere, with Miles Mikolas and Merrill Kelly some of the recent examples. Font isn’t currently on the 40-man and will have to earn his way back into the mix but he will be an interesting one to watch.

Julio Teheran/Aaron Brooks

These two veterans have also been brought aboard on minor league deals. Teheran spent 2022 in Indy ball and the Mexican League, posting some decent numbers in 13 starts between various clubs. He then went to the Dominican for winter ball and has posted a 3.49 ERA through eight starts there. He had a solid run with the Braves earlier in his career but got lit up in 2020 with a 10.05 ERA and then was injured for most of 2021.

Brooks was great in the KBO in 2020 and 2021, posting a 2.79 ERA over 36 starts in that time. However, his attempted return to the majors didn’t go well. He made five relief appearances for the Cardinals with a 7.71 ERA and got outrighted to the minors. In 15 Triple-A appearances, 13 starts, his ERA was 5.56.

All told, the Padres have lots of options here but all of them have question marks. There’s a handful of faded prospects who still need to put injury concerns in the rearview mirror and another handful of veteran swingmen who still might end up better suited to the bullpen than the rotation. Musgrove-Darvish-Snell gives them a strong front three, meaning the Padres only really need a couple of these guys to step up. On the other hand, they are one injury away from someone in this group suddenly being in the #3 slot.

The Padres could always supplement their staff between now and Opening Day, but recent reporting has suggested they don’t have much more payroll space to work with. If they want to go the trade route, there are certainly options, such as the Marlins having plenty of arms available and the Brewers perhaps in a similar boat.

Padres Notes: Clevinger, Abrams, Paddack, Weathers

By Mark Polishuk | April 3, 2022 at 8:02pm CDT

Mike Clevinger is battling soreness in his right knee and is expected to begin the season on the 10-day injured list, Padres manager Bob Melvin told reporters (including Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune). Clevinger has made only one appearance this spring, and lasted only 1 2/3 innings.

The IL placement “allows us to kind of smooth things out and slow it down some,” Melvin said. “We don’t feel like it’s a significant thing, but it actually might be a little bit of a blessing because it did feel like we were kind of rushing him a little bit.”

It has already been a lengthy absence from a big league mound for Clevinger, who underwent Tommy John surgery in November 2020 and subsequently missed all of last season. The Padres were already planning to ease him back into action on limited innings, pairing Clevinger with another pitcher in piggyback fashion. It seems likely that the team might still pursue this strategy when Clevinger does return, though the extra recovery time could allow Clevinger to start a bit deeper into games.

San Diego has enough of a pitching surplus to withstand Clevinger’s absence, particularly after Sean Manaea was acquired from the A’s earlier today. However, rumors continue to swirl about the possibility that the Friars could trade from their pitching depth to facilitate another deal, and the Padres reportedly came close on a four-player swap with the Mets yesterday that would’ve seen Eric Hosmer, Chris Paddack, and Emilio Pagan all sent to New York for Dominic Smith.

That trade would’ve been largely about getting luxury tax relief from Hosmer’s contract, though the Padres have also pursued other big-ticket moves to add talent. San Diego has long been rumored to have interest in the Pirates’ Bryan Reynolds, and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that the Padres offered two arms in Paddack and Ryan Weathers in exchange for the All-Star outfielder. That wasn’t enough for the Pirates, as talks were scuttled when Pittsburgh additionally wanted top prospect C.J. Abrams added to the trade package.

While Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller has been willing to deal notable prospects in the past, he has mostly resisted trading any of the true upper-tier names from his farm system. As a consensus top-15 prospect in baseball, Abrams fits that billing, even coming off an injury-shortened 2021 season. The Pirates are known to be seeking a major return in exchange for Reynolds, so while Abrams is a justifiable ask for a player of Reynolds’ proven ability, it remains to be seen if the Padres (or any team) would be willing to trade away a blue-chip minor league talent.

In fact, the door remains open on Abrams contributing to the Padres’ own big league roster as early as Opening Day. Abrams has been hitting well this spring, and with Fernando Tatis Jr. set to miss as much as the first three months of the season, there is a vacancy at Abrams’ natural shortstop position. Abrams has also been playing at second base, and Melvin has suggested that he could get some reps in the outfield as well, acting as some center field depth behind Trent Grisham.

It would be an aggressive promotion considering that Abrams has only played 42 games of Double-A ball, and has never played at Triple-A. That said, the Padres didn’t shy away from putting Tatis on their Opening Day roster in 2019, and that was even before the new Collective Bargaining Agreement introduced the “Prospect Promotion Incentive,” which allows teams to potentially gain an extra draft pick if a top prospect spends an entire season on the active roster and has a high finish in awards balloting.

Returning to the pitching rumor mill, Paddack drew some attention from New York’s other team last month, when the Yankees and Padres were discussing Luke Voit in trade talks. SNY’s Andy Martino reports that the Yankees initially wanted Paddack in return for Voit, before finally settling on a less-experienced hurler in prospect Justin Lange.

Padres, Pirates Have Discussed Bryan Reynolds Trade

By Steve Adams | March 31, 2022 at 9:55pm CDT

9:55pm: The Padres currently consider the Pirates asking price on Reynolds to be “prohibitive,” writes Dennis Lin of the Athletic. That’s hardly a surprise, given the reported lofty asks the Bucs have sought in Reynolds talks with other teams.

9:21am: The Padres and Pirates have had recent trade discussions surrounding All-Star outfielder Bryan Reynolds, tweets USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. Young pitchers Chris Paddack and Ryan Weathers have both been mentioned as possible pieces going back to Pittsburgh, he adds.

It’s important to make a few key distinctions here. First and foremost, talks between the two parties don’t necessarily suggest that a deal is nigh — nor do they indicate that Pittsburgh is actively seeking to trade Reynolds. The Pirates have fielded Reynolds interest from more than a half-dozen teams since last summer alone, and he remains in camp with Pittsburgh.

Secondly, Paddack and Weathers are surely just two of a wide range of names that have been discussed. Even if both are of interest to the Bucs, additional pieces would assuredly need to be added. Paddack, for instance, is controlled for less time than Reynolds (three years to Reynolds’ four years) and is coming off a poor 2021 season that ended with an elbow injury. Weathers, meanwhile, is a former top-10 draft pick and top-100 prospect, but he was knocked around for a 5.32 ERA through 94 2/3 innings during last year’s rookie campaign. He’s controllable for another five years, at least.

As Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets, San Diego’s interest in Reynolds is not a new revelation. However, if they are indeed discussing specific players that could go back to Pittsburgh, that’d mark a sign of progression over prior, more preliminary talks, Acee adds.

Reports last night indicated that the Padres are open to trading from both their starting pitching and catching surpluses in order to address their needs in the outfield. Padres skipper Bob Melvin just yesterday acknowledged that the lack of outfield depth is “a concern.” San Diego has been considering the possibility of playing top shortstop prospect CJ Abrams in the outfield early this season.

At the moment, the Padres have Trent Grisham and Wil Myers locked into outfield slots, but their left field situation is particularly dire. Newly acquired first baseman/outfielder Matt Beaty could see significant time there despite grading out as a poor defender. Switch-hitting utilityman Jurickson Profar is the other leading leading candidate, but he’s coming off a miserable 2021 season at the plate and has spent the bulk of his career playing the infield.

Reynolds is about as high-profile a target that Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller could explore. That’s par for the course for Preller, who typically explores any and all opportunities to acquire a marquee player, however slim the chances may be. Preller and Pittsburgh counterpart Ben Cherington have lined up on a couple of trades over the past 13 months or so, however, as Pittsburgh traded both Joe Musgrove and Adam Frazier to San Diego in separate deals. As such, it’s likely that Paddack, Weathers and quite a few other Padres youngsters have already been discussed in previous trade talks between the two sides. Those prior talks could serve as groundwork to an extent, but evaluations and opinions of young players can change rapidly over the course of even just a few months’ time.

Reynolds has also been aggressively pursued by the Marlins, dating back to last year’s trade deadline. Other teams known to have interest in the switch-hitting 27-year-old include the Mariners, Yankees, Braves and Brewers, among others. It’s easy to see why when looking at Reynolds’ career .290/.368/.490 batting line and, in particular, last year’s .302/.390/.522 output. Reynolds is controllable all the way through the 2025 season, though, and between his elite performance and that long-term control, the asking price on him figures to be sky-high.

For instance, Craig Mish and Barry Jacksonn of the Miami Herald recently reported that the Pirates sought both shortstop Kahlil Watson and right-hander Max Meyer in talks with the Fish. Both recent first-rounders rank among the sport’s top-50 overall prospects. In past trade talks with the Mariners, the Bucs targeted uber-prospect Julio Rodriguez as the starting point and sought additional pieces beyond him, per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. With regard to the Padres, those prior asks on Reynolds underscore that Paddack and Weathers would likely be seen as secondary pieces, at best.

As for the Padres’ general outfield search, if they’re not able to strike up an agreement with the Pirates regarding Reynolds, there’s no shortage of alternative paths for them to explore. The Twins are known to be seeking rotation help and have plenty of outfielders — both in terms of established players (Max Kepler) and young, MLB-ready options with upside (Trevor Larnach, Alex Kirilloff). The Yankees could use additional options on the mound and behind the plate, and they have a crowded outfield mix (which includes former Padres trade target Joey Gallo). The Angels are deep in young outfielders (e.g. Jo Adell, Brandon Marsh) and are always on the hunt for rotation help. The Mariners, similarly, could use another starter and have a deep collection of outfield talent on the 40-man roster. Preller could also look to Baltimore’s Cedric Mullins or Austin Hays, though Mullins in particular is a Reynolds-esque long shot to be moved.

Padres Open To Trading From Rotation, Catching Depth

By Anthony Franco | March 30, 2022 at 9:34pm CDT

With a little over a week until Opening Day, the Padres still have a highly uncertain outfield mix. Michael Conforto and Brett Gardner remain available in free agency, but the Friars are an estimated $6MM shy of the $230MM base luxury tax threshold and are reportedly reluctant to exceed that figure.

If they’re not content with their internal outfield options, a trade may be the better way for the front office to go. Dennis Lin of the Athletic reports the Padres are willing to entertain offers on some of their catchers or starting pitchers. Dealing from their depth in either area wouldn’t necessarily mean the Padres bring back a big league caliber outfielder in return, but it seems the front office is at least open to exploring those possibilities.

Neither development comes as a surprise. During the lockout, MLBTR noted the potential for San Diego to entertain trades from both the catching group and rotation depth. The Padres currently have four catchers on the 40-man roster, all of whom have reasonable claims to a spot on the MLB club.

Austin Nola is the presumptive starter. Luis Campusano is a top prospect who doesn’t have much more to prove in the minors after hitting .295/.365/.541 in Triple-A. Víctor Caratini is coming off a rough season, but he’s had success in the past and works well with Yu Darvish. Jorge Alfaro would appear to be fourth on the depth chart, but San Diego acquired him from the Marlins and he can’t be optioned to the minor leagues, meaning the Padres need to keep him on the active roster or designate him for assignment. The Friars presumably won’t carry all four on the Opening Day roster, even with rosters expanded from 26 to 28 players in the early going, so it’s natural they’d be open to dealing from that group.

On the pitching side of the equation, San Diego is set to open the year with a starting group of Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Blake Snell, Mike Clevinger and Nick Martínez. That wouldn’t leave spots for any of Chris Paddack, Reiss Knehr or former top prospects Ryan Weathers and MacKenzie Gore. All four of those pitchers have options remaining, and the Friars could certainly opt to stockpile depth after seeing a series of rotation injuries contribute to a second-half collapse last year. Lin doesn’t specify any names whom the Padres are particularly inclined to move, to be clear. Yet as with the catching surplus, there may at least be enough depth for president of baseball operations A.J. Preller to consider a move — particularly if one of those arms can bring back MLB-ready outfield help.

Trent Grisham is locked in as the center fielder, with Will Myers set to handle right field on most days. San Diego saw Tommy Pham depart in free agency, leaving Jurickson Profar and the newly-acquired Matt Beaty among the favorites for playing time in left. That’s not a great group of corner players for a hopeful contender, and the Pads have shopped both Myers and first baseman Eric Hosmer throughout the offseason. Lin writes they’re still exploring possible Hosmer deals, although moving much of the remaining four years and $59MM on his deal has proven too tough a task so far. It’d probably be easier to move Myers, but that’d just further thin the corner outfield group.

Aside from Myers, Profar, Beaty and Grisham, the Padres don’t really have outfield options on the 40-man roster. Lin writes that manager Bob Melvin has already ruled out the possibility of moving second baseman Jake Cronenworth off the position, something the organization considered but never tried last offseason. Alfaro has some experience in left field but shouldn’t be more than an emergency option there. Trayce Thompson and Nomar Mazara are in camp as non-roster invitees and could both get big league looks, but neither is necessarily an upgrade over Profar and Beaty.

More interesting than the possibility of any of those veterans getting a spot is the chance for top prospect CJ Abrams to break camp with the club. A consensus top 15 prospect, Abrams only has 42 games of Double-A experience. He impressed there last year, hitting .296/.363/.420 with a pair of home runs and 13 stolen bases, but his season was cut short when he fractured his left tibia in late June. That kept him from seeing his first Triple-A action.

Nevertheless, both Lin and Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune have written this week the organization is considering carrying the 21-year-old on the MLB roster. That’s certainly not a given, as both Lin and Acee hear that some with the Padres believe he’d benefit from more time in the minors. Not only does he have limited experience against high level pitching, Abrams has never played a professional inning outside of the middle infield.

Given his athleticism — evaluators credit him with top-of-the-scale speed — there’s a belief he could handle all three outfield spots. Melvin acknowledged this afternoon he might give Abrams some consideration behind Grisham in center field (Acee link). Keeping him in the majors would allow San Diego some cover behind Cronenworth and Ha-Seong Kim in the middle infield while Fernando Tatís Jr. is on the injured list. Yet there’d certainly be risk in putting Abrams into a major league outfield right out of the gate, even in a utility capacity, and there’s an argument to be made for the Friars starting him at Triple-A El Paso. It’ll be known soon enough what route Preller, Melvin and the rest of the San Diego brass choose to take with the Opening Day roster.

NL West Injury Notes: Weathers, Bellinger, Betts, Kershaw, Belt, Crawford, Kelly

By Mark Polishuk | July 24, 2021 at 9:08pm CDT

Padres left-hander Ryan Weathers was activated off the 10-day injured list earlier today, and he marked the occasion with four shutout innings and his first career home run in San Diego’s 3-2 loss to the Marlins. Weathers had to be helped off the field after suffering what looked like an ugly leg injury on July 11, though he ended up only fracturing a small bone in his right ankle. He looked none the worse for wear today, which is a nice boost to a Padres team that has battled through multiple pitching injuries and might yet look to add more arms by the trade deadline.

More injury updates from around the NL West…

Cody Bellinger is day-to-day after leaving Friday’s game due to hamstring tightness, though Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told The Los Angeles Times’ Jeff Miller and other reporters that Bellinger was on the field working out prior to today’s game. When he does return, Bellinger might be utilized at first base in order to reduce his running, Roberts said.
Roberts also had more updates on other injured Dodgers stars, including Mookie Betts’ continuing right hip problems. Betts received a cortisone shot and the plan is for the outfielder to play on Tuesday when the Dodgers begin a series with the Giants. Betts hasn’t played since July 19 and hasn’t started a game since July 17. Clayton Kershaw (placed on the 10-day IL with forearm inflammation on July 7) threw a bullpen session today and is slated for a simulated game on Tuesday.
Brandon Belt may be close to a rehab assignment, as the Giants first baseman ran the bases today as he continues to work his way back from knee inflammation. Belt told reporters (including John Shea of The San Francisco Chronicle) that he feels “way better than I thought I was going to feel at this point,” considering that there was some consideration of knee surgery when he initially hurt his knee almost exactly one month ago. Belt intends to wear a protective sleeve over his knee when he returns to the field.
In other positive injury recovery news for the Giants, Brandon Crawford began baseball activity today. Crawford was placed on the 10-day IL with what was considered to be a minor left oblique strain on July 19, and it looks like Crawford will indeed only be out of action for a minimal amount of time.
Diamondbacks catcher Carson Kelly will began a rehab assignment on Thursday and will move to High-A Hillsboro on Sunday, MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert tweets. A fractured wrist sent Kelly to the injured list on June 20, interrupting an outstanding season for the 27-year-old backstop. Kelly has hit .260/.385/.460 with eight home runs over 187 plate appearances.

Padres Reinstate Blake Snell, Drew Pomeranz From 10-Day IL; Place Ryan Weathers On 10-Day IL

By Mark Polishuk | July 17, 2021 at 4:17pm CDT

The Padres have reinstated left-handers Blake Snell and Drew Pomeranz from the 10-day injured list, the team announced. Right-hander James Norwood was optioned to Triple-A, and yesterday San Diego officially placed southpaw Ryan Weathers on the 10-day IL due to a right ankle fracture.

Both Snell and Pomeranz are returning as expected after minimal 10-day IL stints, and Snell (who had gastroentiritis) is lined up to start tonight’s game with the Nationals. Pomeranz had inflammation in his throwing forearm, though this somewhat ominous injury wasn’t considered particularly serious, as Padres manager Jayce Tingler indicated to reporters at the time of Pomeranz’s placement.

The Padres will welcome all the arms they can get in the wake of multiple pitching injuries, with Weathers representing the latest absence. On the plus side, Weathers’ ankle issue seems a little less serious than it first appeared when he had to be helped off the field last Sunday, and the left-hander might potentially be able to return before July is over. Even with Snell back and Weathers perhaps not a long-term concern, San Diego is still expected to focus on adding pitching help prior to the July 30 trade deadline.

Padres’ Ryan Weathers Suffers Ankle Injury

By Mark Polishuk | July 15, 2021 at 10:48pm CDT

TODAY: Weathers fractured “a small accessory piece of bone in the back of his ankle,” Lin tweets, and the southpaw could be able to return before the end of July, though “his recovery will depend on pain tolerance.” On the plus side, Weathers is able to walk without any seeming ill effects just four days after his initial injury.

JULY 12: Lin reports that Weathers avoided a major injury and is expected to be out a matter of weeks rather than months. A specific diagnosis or timeline has yet to be announced by the club.

JULY 11, 7:50pm: Weathers’ knee and ankle look to be unharmed, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets, though the left-hander still has to undergo tests on his Achilles.

5:00pm: Weathers’ injury is actually to his right foot, according to The Athletic’s Dennis Lin (Twitter link).

4:49pm: Padres southpaw Ryan Weathers was removed from today’s game after suffering an apparent right knee injury. In the third inning, Weathers fielded a bunt grounder from Jon Gray of the Rockies and tried to tag Gray on the first base line, though Weathers appeared to jam his leg while taking an awkward step to avoid a full-on collision. Weathers was in obvious pain and needed to be helped off the field.

At the very least, Weathers looks slated for a trip to the injured list, and there would certainly appear to be worry that the injury is serious enough to end his season. Today marked Weathers’ 11th start of 17 overall appearances for the 21-year-old this season, as the rookie left-hander has quickly become an important part of San Diego’s pitching mix. Weathers has a 2.91 ERA through 58 2/3 innings, delivering good numbers despite allowing a lot of hard contact and only a 17.87% strikeout rate.

Most importantly for the Padres, however, Weathers has been able to deliver results and fill innings amidst a number of other injury absences within the rotation. Adrian Morejon was lost to Tommy John surgery in April and Dinelson Lamet’s arm issues have limited him to 34 1/3 innings. Blake Snell and Yu Darvish are also currently on the 10-day IL with more minor injuries, though the Padres will surely welcome the All-Star break to get their pitching staff figured out.

Assuming Darvish and Snell are able to return in short order, an IL absence for Weathers will leave the Padres with only four starters (Darvish, Snell, Chris Paddack, Joe Musgrove) and not much in the way of experienced depth. There is some hope that Lamet might be able to return relatively soon after the break, but that is no guarantee given how Lamet has been hampered by injuries all year. While the team might turn to bullpen games or an opener/bulk pitcher format in the short term, a Weathers injury will only exacerbate the Padres’ need for starting pitching help at the trade deadline.

Padres Option Ryan Weathers To Triple-A

By Mark Polishuk | June 16, 2021 at 11:37am CDT

11:37AM: The Padres have announced the move, with right-hander James Norwood called up to take Weathers’ spot on the active roster. San Diego acquired Norwood from the Cubs in an April trade, and Norwood is now set to make his first appearance of the 2021 season and make his Padres debut.

10:42AM: The Padres are sending left-hander Ryan Weathers to Triple-A, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Kevin Acee. Weathers will be stretched out again as a regular starter in the minors, though his next call-up to the big leagues could be to fill a hole in either the rotation or the bullpen.

The news represents a change of course from just two days ago, when the Padres initially planned to move Weathers to the bullpen. The rookie had been deployed as both a starter and reliever this season, stepping into the rotation due to injuries to Adrian Morejon and Dinelson Lamet. However, Lamet’s return from the injured list temporarily gave San Diego a six-man rotation, which the team saw as a way of keeping its starters fresh.

Now, as Acee writes, “Lamet appearing to have reached a point where he can effectively go five or more innings allowed the Padres to prioritize Weathers’ development, as they feel their second-ranked pitching prospect is better served for the long term getting consistent work as a starter.”

It creates a bit of an interesting present vs. future situation for the Padres front office. While nothing would stop the team from quickly calling Weathers back up to the active roster if necessary, the argument could be made that Weathers is most useful right now as a reliever in the majors, given how San Diego’s bullpen has been shaky over the last month. The leaky relief corps has been one of the reasons the Padres are only 4-12 in their last 16 games, and the team now sits five games out of first place in the NL West.

With the Giants and Dodgers not showing any signs of slowing down, it leaves the Padres with little margin for error for reaching the postseason, so having Weathers on hand to secure even one or two extra wins could make a huge difference in what might be a tight NL wild card race. Weathers is still only 21 years old, so it wouldn’t be difficult for the team to stretch him out next spring with an eye towards resuming his career path as a starting pitcher.

That said, being a starter could also ultimately be how Weathers best contributes to the 2021 team, in the event of another rotation injury. Having Weathers ready to go at Triple-A could be a necessity for the Padres, given their lack of healthy and experienced starting depth in the minors. Though Weathers has all of 47 1/3 MLB innings to his name, that still makes him the Padres’ top “sixth starter” candidate waiting in the wings.

NL West Notes: Rockies, Schmidt, Brebbia, Weathers

By Mark Polishuk | June 14, 2021 at 1:33pm CDT

“At the end of the day it’s going to come down to, what are they offering?” Rockies interim GM Bill Schmidt said of his team’s deadline plans, telling MLB.com’s Thomas Harding and other reporters that the front office isn’t under a mandate to cut payroll. To this end, it’s possible a prime trade chip like Trevor Story isn’t moved at all, if no club makes the Rockies an acceptable offer.

Story is reportedly not planning to re-sign with Colorado when he enters free agency after the season, though if the Rox didn’t trade him at the deadline, the team wouldn’t be left completely empty-handed if Story departed. Since Story would assuredly reject Colorado’s qualifying offer, the Rockies would be in line for a compensatory draft pick after the first round of the draft. “I trust our ability to make a good pick,” Schmidt said, noting that Story himself (as well as Nolan Arenado and Ryan McMahon) were all selected by the Rockies within that general range of the draft order. Of course, this could also very well be gamesmanship on Schmidt’s part, letting trade suitors know that they’ll need to top the value of a first-round sandwich pick in order to land Story at the deadline.

Latest On Padres Rotation

By TC Zencka | May 3, 2021 at 10:34am CDT

After a flurry of offseason acquisitions, the Padres entered the season with arguably one of the deepest pools of rotation candidates in the game. But just a month into the season, even the Padres are already looking at a bullpen game. Miguel Diaz will be the nominal starter today, but the 26-year-old right-hander has been working 3-4 inning stints at the Padres’ alternate site in preparation, writes Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He has appeared in 47 games for the Padres going back to 2017 and only three times as a starter.

In the near term, the Padres are holding out hope that either Ryan Weathers or Dinelson Lamet will be ready to start on Tuesday, adds Acee. Said manager Jayce Tingler, “Both of them were pretty aggressive with their bullpens today and came out reporting feeling well. We think that’s a good step for both guys. We’ll see how they respond tomorrow and go from there.”

Lamet has made just one start his year, going two scoreless before being removed because of forearm soreness. Weathers, 21, was the youngest starting pitcher in baseball, and he’d been nothing short of brilliant before leaving his last start with arm soreness. The young southpaw has a 0.55 ERA/3.23 FIP over 16 1/3 innings combined out of the pen and rotation.

There remains no word on Chris Paddack, who was placed on the injured list without an injury designation. Presumably, that points to something Covid-19-related (be it a positive test, close contact or self-reported symptoms). That could mean a quick turnaround for Paddack as we have seen with a few players this year, but only time will tell. If Paddack isn’t able to return shortly, the Friars hope that Lamet and Weathers could fill out the rotation. Otherwise, Diaz may be in for more than just a spot start.

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