San Diego

Padres

Sheets was taking his second at-bat off the bench after replacing Ty France when he homered off Victor Vodnik to complete a ninth-inning rally that saw the Padres go from down 8-5 to up 10-8. It was his third homer in 79 plate appearances this year. He’s batting .227/.266/.467 as the Padres’ usual first baseman against right-handers. Today’s game was actually the first of the year in which he didn’t get the nod versus a righty.

The thin air of Colorado did Waldron’s knuckler no good today, so he threw the pitch just half as often as he did last time out. He has a 12.46 ERA after two starts, which might lead to a Triple-A demotion. If not, he’ll face the Cubs on Wednesday.

Miller’s record stayed perfect today, but he actually went without a strikeout. Tyler Freeman grounded out and Troy Johnston singled before Ezequiel Tovar grounded into a double play. It’s the first strikeout-free inning of the season for Miller, who had fanned 25 of 38 batters he’d faced this year. Last year, he went without a strikeout in four of 60 appearances and just once after joining the Padres.

Bogaerts and Ramón Laureano, who had three hits and two RBI today, have been the Padres’ most productive regulars this season, but while that got Laureano a promotion to the leadoff spot, Bogaerts still isn’t batting any higher than fifth. It’s kind of funny, since the Padres initially thought about using Bogaerts in the leadoff spot and dropping Fernando Tatis Jr. to cleanup this year. Bogaerts, though, keeps hitting below Tatis, Jackson Merrill and Manny Machado despite having the better OPS by 150-200 points.

Campusano took Jaden Hill for a ride with a solo shot in the seventh inning. That’s the second homemr of the campaign for the backstop, and he is already up to six doubles to go with the roundtrippers. IT’s very early, but Campusano has played well in his limited time with a slash of .333/.385/.667 in his 36 at-bats.

After pitching well in his previous two starts, Buehler was back to scuffling during Wednesday’s loss; being easily outpitched by Tomoyuki Sugano. The right-hander gave up eight hits before exiting in the third, and he also issued three walks while needing a whopping 82 pitches to get eight outs. Not ideal Buehler now has a 5.75 ERA, and with the Padres officially inking Lucas Giolito, he’s obviously a name that could be bounced from the rotation when San Diego assuredly moves Giolito into the rotation. As for now, he gets a chance to rebound against the Cubs next week.

The procedural move opens up a spot on San Diego’s 40-man roster for newly added free agent Lucas Giolito. The 29-year-old reliever is expected to miss the entire season recovering from flexor tendon surgery.

This had been rumored for a few days and is now official. Giolito claims that he is built up to 75 pitches, but he also ended last season on the injured list with flexor irritation, so we’ll need to see him throw on the mound before we get a true sense of how he looks. The Padres optioned him to High-A Lake Elsinore, but Giolito needs to be on the MLB roster in 25 days, which would be May 17th. He would figure to take Matt Waldron’s spot in the rotation by that time.

Obviously, we are dealing with levels of rumor and speculation here, but it does make sense, especially after Nick Pivetta’s elbow injury. We know the Padres have interest in the 31-year-old starter, and Giolito has said that he’s maintained a pitch count around 75 while working out on his own this offseason, so he shouldn’t take too long to ramp up. In 26 starts last season, Giolito had a 3.41 ERA and would be on the streaming radar in 12-team leagues if/when he gets back to the big leagues.

It’s not often we get a 1-0 pitching duel in Colorado. Tuesday was one of those rare days when offense was scarce. Machado drove in the only run of the game with a bases-loaded walk in the sixth inning. The 33-year-old third baseman has struggled to start the season, slashing .178/.326/.288 with two home runs, 10 runs scored, and 11 RBI across 92 plate appearances.