San Diego Padres: Mike Clevinger signs extension, needs Tommy John surgery

The San Diego Padres announced that they had signed Mike Clevinger to a two year contract. They also announced he’ll be undergoing Tommy John surgery.

The San Diego Padres want to run it back with Mike Clevinger in the starting rotation. It just won’t be in the 2021 season.

This tweet gave Padres fans emotional whiplash. The first half is so positive. Clevinger, a great starter, will be in the brown and gold for two more years. The Padres are entering a World Series contention window and having Clevinger at the front end of their rotation would go a long way in October.

And then those hopes are dashed immediately with the announcement that Clevinger will be undergoing Tommy John surgery. He’ll miss the entirety of the 2021 season and that’s a huge beat for the Padres.

The absence of Clevinger and Dinelson Lamet in the 2020 playoffs completely unraveled a truly special season. They were the two best starters in the rotation, with Lamet earning a fourth place finish in the NL Cy Young race.

Clevinger was acquired at the trade deadline and made four starts for the Padres. He posted a 2.84 ERA in those starts with 19 strikeouts in 19 innings.

So yea, losing Clevinger for 2021 is a bad break for the Padres. It leaves them with a lot of questions about their rotation.

Chris Paddack, their 2020 opening day starter, had an absolutely brutal sophomore campaign. He posted a 4.73 ERA in 12 starts, a far cry from the 3.33 ERA in his rookie season.

Zach Davies had the best season of his career in 2020, but there are questions about how sustainable his success would be over a full season. His 2.73 actual ERA is a big drop off from his 5.01 xERA, he allowed a 36.6% hard hit rate and a barrel rate of 10.3%.

The Padres do have some young arms on the way up though. Luis Patino made his debut out of the bullpen in 2020, but didn’t pitch especially well and had a walk rate of 16.5%. Adrian Morejon stepped up to fill the rotation needs down the stretch but allowed a lot of hard contact. And MacKenzie Gore, their top prospect, may be ready to make an impact for the 2021 season.

The loss of Clevinger may also cause the Padres to become more aggressive in the free agent market. They’ve been mentioned consistently in the Trevor Bauer sweepstakes and they’ve shown that they’re not afraid to spend big money on the open market. And with the expected spending cutbacks around the league, they may be able to bring in some solid rotation help under typical market value. James Paxton jumps off the page as a guy looking for a one year contract to rebuild his value.

Regardless of how they address it, the loss of Clevinger for the 2021 season leaves a huge void in the rotation. But signing him for two years ensures that the Padres pitching staff will be among the best of the league in 2022.