Padres Place Starting Pitcher on Injured List in Surprise Move

The San Diego Padres have placed right-handed starting pitcher Germán Márquez on the injured list due to forearm nerve inflammation. The move was retroactive to May 2.

In a corresponding move, right-handed pitcher Griffin Canning was officially activated off the IL to make his Padres debut.

Márquez, 31, joined the Padres this offseason on a one-year deal after spending the first 10 years of his career with the Colorado Rockies. The hope was that getting him out of Coors Field would allow him to get back to being a great starting pitcher.

So far, that hasn't been the case.

Márquez has made six starts for the Padres, allowing 19 earned runs over 29.2 innings for a 5.76 ERA. He has 19 strikeouts to 12 walks while allowing eight home runs.

In Márquez's most recent start on Friday against the Chicago White Sox, he allowed six earned runs across the first two innings. He ended up completing five innings, and manager Craig Stammen said he would get another start this week.

“It was a struggle from the beginning,” Stammen said. “Second inning just really got away from him. Credit to him, he stuck with it and got us through five.”

“Germán will get back out there," he added. “He’ll bounce back and be just fine.”

However, Márquez won't be making his scheduled start this week, as instead he'll be shelved for at least the next two weeks as he recovers from his forearm nerve inflammation.

As for Canning, he's making his Padres debut on Sunday after rupturing his Achilles tendon last June as a member of the New York Mets.

Canning was in the midst of a career year with the Mets, going 7-3 with a 3.77 ERA across 76.1 innings. He joined the Padres on a one-year deal that guarantees him $4.25 million.

Canning made five rehab starts at Triple-A EL Paso, sporting a 3.60 ERA with 18 strikeouts over 15 innings of work. He was initially scheduled to make one more, but the Padres instead decided to have his next start come at the major league level.

“I feel really good,” Canning said on Saturday. “I think my last rehab outing was a good one to build off. I got through five, kind of got back into the rhythm of the game a little bit. I like where I’m at.”

Stammen was looking forward to Canning's debut.

“He’s going to be great,” Stammen said. “I think he’s excited to get past that Achilles injury. He has put in a ton of work, a lot of hard work. You guys saw it all through spring training, and now he’s had a bunch of rehab starts. So … it’s going to be exciting.”

Márquez going on the injured list means Walker Buehler and Matt Waldron are safe in the rotation for now. However, with Lucas Giolito set to join the rotation in the next two weeks, both pitchers are still seemingly pitching for their spots moving forward.

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