Padres News: Bob Melvin Weighing Rotation Options Following Loss of Joe Musgrove
The Padres planned on coming into the regular season with a six-man rotation. They did that quite a bit last season and the pitchers liked it, so manager Bob Melvin wanted to go that route again in 2023. Unfortunately, star righty Joe Musgrove fractured the big toe in his left foot in a weight room accident, so he won't be ready for the start of the season.
That leaves Melvin with a tough decision: Should San Diego go with a more traditional five-man rotation while Musgrove is out, or should they bump someone else into the sixth-starter role in his absence? As he told reporters on Wednesday, he's not sure what the answer is.
"Yeah, it's just whether or not we feel like we're more in need of length in the bullpen or if we want to give the other starters a little bit of a break. Originally, we were looking at six just because that's kind of how we started last year and the guys kind of embraced it, but we'll do what we think is best suited for the team. And if that's taking a little bit more off their plate as far as innings, you know, in a five man, we'll look at that. And if not, then we'll see who kind of rears their head to potentially be that sixth guy."
A reporter asked if they might go with a hybrid situation, where the use a sixth pitcher when necessary but also use scheduled days off to get that extra rest for the starters, and he acknowledged that as a possibility.
"You know, as we go along, too, we can make adjustments. So if we feel like, the first few times out, we want to give our guys an extra day, then maybe we bring somebody up to start a game, and do that 'five-and-a-half' type of thing that you're talking about."
In Musgrove's absence, the five starters for the Padres are Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Nick Martinez, Seth Lugo, and Michael Wacha. Ryan Weathers has been mostly a starter throughout his minor-league career and his brief time in the majors, and Adrian Morejon use to be a starter but spent the 2022 season as a multi-inning reliever. San Diego also has Julio Teheran in camp as a non-roster invitee, and he impressed Melvin in his start earlier in the week.
Whether it's five starters or six, the Friars will be happy to get Musgrove back when the time comes.
