One of the Padres’ main worries in 2024 was starting rotation depth. If someone is injured and has to miss significant time, do they have enough arms in the system to be competitive? Unfortunately, this is already being tested.
Prior to Sunday’s game in Arizona, the Friars placed Joe Musgrove on the 15-day Injured List with right elbow irritation. In such case, the first reaction is, “Oh no, I hope this isn’t a Tommy John surgery situation.” It is far too early to make that decision. The club hopes that relaxation and treatment will solve the problem.
Randy Vasquez, who was called up for a couple of starts while Yu Darvish was sidelined with a neck injury, was recalled back from Triple-A to cover Joe’s spot in the rotation. With the El Cajon native out for a while, the rest of the starters must perform admirably.
Matt Waldron did not do well against the Diamondbacks. His knuckleball wasn’t working, nor was anything else. Waldron allowed eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits in 3.0 innings, taking the loss in an 11-4 Arizona victory that snapped the Padres’ season-high four-game win streak. The tone was established in the first inning as Waldron allowed four runs, half of which came on a home run by Ketel Marte.
The Padres offense attempted to give him a boost. In the third inning, Jackson Merrill hit a two-run homer and Kyle Higashioka added an RBI double to narrow the score to 4-3, but it was not Waldron’s day. Arizona recovered two of those runs in the bottom half before pouring it on in the fourth inning. Jake MCCarthy’s RBI double improved the score 7-4 and chased Waldron.
The arrival of Johny Brito did little to halt the attack. Christian Walker had an RBI single to make it 8-4, and longtime Padres nemesis Joc Pederson hit a two-run missile to put the game out of reach. The Padres have still won back-to-back series and will look to make it three in a row when they begin a three-game set at Wrigley Field on Monday.
