San Diego Padres: Mike Clevinger news hurts, but isn’t a death blow

The San Diego Padres may be without Mike Clevinger for the postseason.

Wednesday night was supposed to be the final tuneup for San Diego Padres starting pitcher Mike Clevinger in preparation for taking the ball next Tuesday when the Friars take the field for game one of the 2020 MLB playoffs.

Clevinger ended the first inning of his start against the Los Angeles Angels with a masterful strikeout of perennial MVP candidate Mike Trout. As it turns out, that may have been the last batter Mike Clevinger faces this season.

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San Diego’s prized trade deadline acquisition did not return to the mound in the second inning, leaving the contest with bicep tightness, the same ailment that prevented Clevinger from taking the mound since his seven-inning shutout performance against the San Francisco Giants ten days ago.

As of Wednesday night, there is no official word as to how long Clevinger will be out, but according to San Diego Padres beat writer Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Padres fear Clevinger may be lost for the postseason.

While losing Clevinger isn’t ideal, it isn’t a death blow to this team’s chances of making a deep run in October. Going into the playoffs with a three-man starting rotation of Dinelson Lamet, Chris Paddack, and Garrett Richards can be enough when combined with San Diego’s deep and effective bullpen.

Before taking the ball for his first start with the Padres on September 3rd, the Friars held a 23-15 record. Only the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays had more wins than the Padres.

Padres starting pitchers were worth a combined 3.4 Wins Above Replacement in that span and owned a 3.74 ERA, good enough for fifth and seven place in the major leagues, respectively. Pretty impressive numbers considering both Garrett Richards and Chris Paddack were struggling to find their groove this season.

Since Clevinger joined the rotation, he’s been the second-most valuable starter in the Padres rotation, but both Paddack and Richards (six starts) have combined to match their total WAR value in 16 pre-Clevinger era starts.

In his last three starts (including his two-inning start against San Francisco), Paddack has allowed five earned runs across 12.2 innings (3.68 ERA) and has a 13/3 K/BB ratio. He tossed six innings of shutout baseball against Seattle in his last outing.

In 14.1 September innings, Richards has struck out 14, walked just three, and has held opponents to a .208 average. He has shown the ability to work deep into games, posting Quality Starts against both the Dodgers and A’s this season, and after being used out of the bullpen recently, Richards should be fully rested come playoff time and riding a solid month of September.

Should the Padres have to rely on their bullpen, you can’t ask for one much better than San Diego’s. Over the past month, Padres relievers are a combined 7-2 with a 2.92 ERA (2.47 FIP), a near 30% strikeout rate, and a league-leading 2.0 fWAR. That will do.

The San Diego Padres were one of the league’s best teams without Mike Clevinger and while he would have been a huge playoff asset, this team is still a threat. The offense won’t stay cold for long, Eric Hosmer and Tommy Pham are both healthy again and producing, and a left side of the infield with Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr.can’t be matched.

Keep the faith, Padres fans. The 2020 playoffs are still going to be a fun ride.