Padres still have pitching depth to advance deep in playoffs – San Diego Union-Tribune

It's the same question every year.

Who has enough pitching to win it all?

The 1984 Padres looked much like they did back then…until the World Series, when their starters collapsed.

The 1998 Padres seemed to do it.

Then Kevin Brown hit a liner to the shin, Donne Wall threw a big one and Mark Langston whistled a fastball to Tino Martinez with the bases loaded – yes, a pitch after an ump error cost him three strikeouts.

As for the 2024 Padres, a flashing yellow light appeared on their dashboard Wednesday night in the person of Joe Musgrove, who, after just 44 pitches, had a 5-1 lead with two outs and the bases empty in the fourth inning of Game 2 departed -from three wild card series.

Musgrove handed the ball to manager Mike Shildt after speaking with team coach Shildt and pitching coach Ruben Niebla after catcher Kyle Higashioka called a timeout with seven seconds left on the pitch clock. The Padres said Musgrove was suffering from tightness in his right elbow.

Perhaps the Padres simply “exerted an abundance of caution,” as sports teams say, by using a deep, rested bullpen to get the final 16 outs, which they did, defeating the Braves by a 5-4 Victory sends San Diego to Dodger Stadium starting Saturday for the best-of-five Divisional Series in a 2022 rematch won by the Padres.

And if Musgrove suffers a physical setback that clouds his status for the rest of the postseason?

Sure, the task of winning eleven more games has now become even more difficult.

But good pitching depth is one of this team's standout strengths.

More than any other Padres playoff team and most other teams in this World Series tournament, the Padres have the fortitude to overcome a pitcher of Musgrove's caliber being absent for an extended period of time.

They have two co-aces in Dylan Cease and Michael King, who were each among the major leagues' strikeout leaders this season.

On Tuesday in the series opener, King shut out the Braves for seven innings. He and the relievers combined for 15 strikeouts.

Behind them, older veterans Yu Darvish and Martín Pérez are capable of slowing down almost any lineup for about five innings.

After AJ Preller acquired him from the Pirates at the July 30 trade deadline, the left-handed Perez averaged six innings per start and posted a 2.61 ERA before struggling in Sunday's meaningless 162nd game.

Darvish is relatively fresh and will miss most of the season for health and personal reasons. He returned in September. The master of spin repeated his wide range of pitches, posting a 2.78 ERA over 22.2 innings in his last four starts.

In his last start, swingman Randy Vásquez shut out the Diamondbacks with one hit over six innings on Saturday.

The bullpen features two closers in Robert Suarez and lefty Tanner Scott, as well as several other pitchers who have at least one “wow” pitch.

Looking back, the constant injury concerns that Darvish and Musgrove have had over the past two seasons have contributed to having a particularly significant impact on today's staff. Preller made the appropriate moves, adding pitching in the offseason, in spring training and then in July when he traded three relievers and Perez.

Perhaps it is a good sign for him that Musgrove makes his comeback from arm problems in the coming days or weeks. Last Thursday at Dodger Stadium against LA's best lineup, he suffered a seventh-inning shutout. He provided multiple hits on four different types of pitches and was dominant until Will Smith hit a fastball for a tying two-run home run.

He was almost as sharp on Wednesday, after a rocky first inning in which a misplaced cut fastball and a high fastball were hit hard, leading to a run. His fastball velocity increased by 1.4 mph and his sweeper got three strikes.

The job will be more difficult for all Padres pitchers. Hot weather is forecast for the coming days, which will increase the range of drives, and LA's batting line-up could be the best in MLB.

But the Padres have as much good pitching as any team still playing — including the Dodgers.

Originally published: October 2, 2024 at 8:39 p.m