PHILADELPHIA -- On Tuesday afternoon, about 75 miles north of San Diego at the Padres’ affiliate in Lake Elsinore, Yu Darvish faced Single-A hitters in a simulated game. He threw four innings and 64 pitches. In the current phase of his buildup from a right elbow injury, it marks the third time Darvish has faced hitters in a game-like setting.
What comes next? The Padres won’t say. As with everything pertaining to Darvish’s recovery, it’s entirely contingent on how he’s feeling physically. But if all goes well, there’s a chance the setting -- and the opposition -- could change very soon. Big league hitters at Petco Park, perhaps.
The Padres could use him.
With a 4-0 loss to the Phillies on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park, the Padres finished June with a 13-15 record, their first losing month of the season. Their struggles are by no means a product of their pitching staff. They mostly haven’t hit enough. (Monday’s showing against Philadelphia ace Zack Wheeler was excusable, given the opponent, but San Diego’s .679 June OPS ranked 25th in the Majors.)
But that’s a separate issue. There are also cracks showing in the Padres’ starting rotation. Michael King remains sidelined with a right shoulder/long thoracic nerve injury. He’s slowly beginning to ramp up, but his return is a long way away.
Which leaves question marks at the back of the rotation. Matt Waldron -- and his knuckleball -- made his return to a big league mound on Monday night. He’d missed the first two months of the season with a strained left oblique, then was optioned to Triple-A El Paso.
In his season debut, Waldron used a heavy dose of that knuckleball. He threw his signature pitch 74 percent of the time -- the most he’d used it in a big league game in any of his previous starts. Before the season, Waldron said he wanted to throw the pitch more frequently. He lived up to it.
The results were mixed. For the most part, Waldron limited hard contact. He also walked six, as he struggled to command that knuckler throughout. In the end, Waldron allowed four runs over 4 2/3 innings.
“I can’t just limit damage but then walk everybody,” Waldron said. “Very frustrating. I felt like I somewhat gave us a chance to win. But at the end of the day ... I can’t give up that many [walks]. It’s not good enough.”
It’s unclear whether Waldron will get another chance to remedy those issues. The Padres have a scheduled off-day on Thursday, and if Darvish were ready, they could theoretically alter their rotation to add him for the next turn through.
But San Diego has been methodical about every aspect of Darvish’s recovery. He hasn’t pitched this season after dealing with right elbow inflammation in the middle of Spring Training. When he appeared to be on the verge of a return in May, Darvish had a setback in a rehab start.
At this point, it seems unlikely that Darvish would make another rehab start. He and the Padres prefer the controlled setting of a simulated game where they can monitor his workload. Maybe he gets one more of those. Maybe he's finally ready for a return.
After their series in Philadelphia, the Padres have a 10-game homestand before the All-Star break. That could be the ideal time to ease Darvish back into the rotation, knowing there’s a built-in rest after that stretch.
Again, that’s contingent on Darvish’s elbow. In the meantime, Waldron stepped into the spot previously held by right-hander Ryan Bergert, who is on the way back from the right forearm bruise he sustained on a hard line-drive comebacker last week. Bergert is playing catch and is expected to be available when his minimum 15-day IL stint is up in early July.
Which could leave the Padres with some decisions. Nick Pivetta, Dylan Cease and Randy Vásquez have been in the rotation all season. Behind them, Stephen Kolek has seemingly cemented his rotation place with his recent performance. That leaves one spot.
“It always can be somewhat fluid,” Shildt said. “We’ve had Kolek who’s taken the ball and literally not given it back to anybody else and pitched really well. Bergert was getting to that spot when he got hurt. But we do have Darvish, who’s knocking back on the door.”