With 'unique schedule' ahead, Padres shuffle pitching staff

SAN DIEGO -- With a spate of upcoming off-days, the Padres reshuffled their pitching staff ahead of their 1-0 loss on Friday night in the series opener against the Rays at Petco Park.

Kyle Hart, the team’s No. 5 starter, was optioned to Triple-A El Paso. Ryan Bergert, the organization’s No. 21 overall prospect, received his first callup to the big leagues. He’s expected to pitch out of the bullpen.

Here’s what it means:

What’s next for the rotation?
The Padres had an off-day Thursday and off-days next week on Monday and Thursday (surrounding their two-game series against the Giants). Additionally, they’ll have an off-day on May 8 during their upcoming three-city road trip.

From now until May 13, San Diego will need a No. 5 starter only once -- and not until May 6 against the Yankees in New York.

“Yeah, we wanted to make sure we were taking advantage of our off-days to rest our starters,” said Padres manager Mike Shildt. “But they’re [already] getting rest. Nobody’s going to get compromised.”

Indeed, because of the high volume of off-days, the Padres were looking at the possibility of some starters receiving six or seven days between starts. At this stage of the season, they decided that large of a gap was counterproductive.

As such, they’ve set up what amounts to a four-man rotation over the next 3 1/2 weeks (albeit with a vacancy on or around May 6).

One added benefit: With the Giants coming to town for a highly anticipated two-game series between two of baseball’s hottest teams, the Padres can line up their two best starters this season -- Nick Pivetta on Tuesday and Michael King on Wednesday.

What to expect from Bergert?
The team’s sixth-round pick in the 2021 Draft, Bergert impressed during big league camp this spring. In five starts with Triple-A El Paso, he posted a 5.16 ERA, albeit in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

“It was kind of surreal,” Bergert said of his big league callup. “Very excited and happy to be here. … I’m coming out of the ‘pen, not quite sure what my role is. But I’m happy to help and ready to go.”

Shildt later revealed that Bergert would mostly be relied upon for long relief -- which gives the Padres some flexibility in their bullpen. Logan Gillaspie had previously been the only other reliever capable of covering length. As a result, Shildt admitted he wasn’t able to use Gillaspie as often as he otherwise might have.

With Bergert on board, the Padres have a deeper group of options in a ‘pen which has posted a 1.76 ERA, the lowest in the Majors this year entering play on Friday.

What’s next for Hart?
Shildt wanted to make it abundantly clear that Hart’s demotion wasn’t performance-related.

“You’re not sitting down having this conversation like, ‘Listen, it’s not going well,’” Shildt said. “It was more of a conversation: ‘We’re excited about where you’re going. We see improvement. … The reality is we have a unique schedule where it just makes sense to do what we’re doing.’”

The start to Hart’s Padres tenure has been up and down. He’s posted a 6.00 ERA across five starts, though most of that damage came during one rough outing at Wrigley Field.

Hart pitched Wednesday’s series finale in Detroit, allowing two runs over 4 1/3 innings. He’ll continue making regular starts with El Paso. But he’s not eligible to be recalled by the big league club until May 9, ruling him out for that lone early-May vacancy.

What about Darvish?
Left unsaid in the Padres’ rotation chatter is that the club is hopeful to have a key piece rejoin the staff at some point in May.

Yu Darvish, who has been out since mid-March because of right elbow inflammation, threw another bullpen session on Friday, mixing in a heavier dose of breaking pitches. His ramp-up has been a slow, steady progression, as he hadn’t fully built up in Spring Training when he was sidelined.

As a result, Darvish is potentially several weeks off, but he could progress to facing hitters at some point in the near future.

Darvish won’t be an option for the early-May vacancies. But there’s a cost to the current volume of off-days. The Padres’ schedule picks up in intensity in late May and early June. Considering the challenges that schedule will present, Darvish’s return around that time would be a major boost.