Major League Baseball will allow all their teams to add two players to their rosters on Sept. 1. Per the rules adopted in 2020, all teams must carry 28 players on their roster from Sept. 1 until the end of the season. There is a limit of 14 pitchers under this rule so there can only be one pitcher added. If a team chooses not to add a pitcher then two position players can be added. All of the players have to be on the 40-man roster to be eligible.
Expect the San Diego Padres to add both a pitcher
and a position player on Monday. The Friars’ bullpen has been taxed through the whole season. All of their original high-leverage relievers are dealing with innings loads of over 55 IP and all, but Robert Suarez have over 60 innings.
The average innings pitched in a season for a high-leverage reliever usually ranges 65-75 innings. Currently, Jason Adam has the most IP of the Padres Big Five and he sits at 63.2 IP. That is the 11th highest in MLB. Of the playoff contending teams, Eduard Bazardo of the Mariners has 67 IP, Ben Casparius of the Dodgers has 65 IP, Tyler Rogers of the Mets has 64.1 IP and Carlos Vargas of the Mariners has 64 IP.
Adrian Morejon is at 60.2 IP, Jeremiah Estrada at 60.1 IP and Suarez is at 56.1 IP. Mason Miller was added at the trade deadline and he sits at 48.1 IP for the season. Miller had 20 saves and 38.1 IP with the A’s before coming to the Padres.
There are multiple candidates currently on the 40-man roster that could help the bullpen. The decision will most likely be based on relieving the strain on the back end of the bullpen.
The best option would be to have Michael King be fully functional for the rotation and that would allow the Padres to have Randy Vasquez as the long relief/swing man or they could choose to go to a six-man rotation. If he were added as a reliever, then that would free up Yuki Matsui, Wandy Peralta and David Morgan to lengthen back-up spots and give the Big Five a break.
If the Padres opt to keep Vasquez in El Paso as an emergency starter (they also have JP Sears for that role), then they can choose between Alek Jacob, Kyle Hart, Sean Reynolds, Ron Marinaccio and Bradgley Rodriguez. Bryan Hoeing remains on the roster, but left a game for El Paso on Aug. 8 and hasn’t pitched since.
High-velocity options are Reynolds and Rodriguez. Reynolds has seen a little drop in his velocity as the season has gone on and his ERA with El Paso sits at 5.40 in August. Rodriguez recently came off the IL and has a 2.16 ERA in 8.1 innings since his return.
Jacob and Hart are low-velocity finesse pitchers who have to have pinpoint control to be effective, but are both pitching well lately. Hart has a 1.82 ERA in his last 24.2 innings pitched as a reliever with El Paso. Jacob is currently with the Padres after being called up when JP Sears was sent to El Paso on Aug. 26.
Marinaccio has been up and down between San Diego and El Paso, but has mostly sat in the bullpen with his call ups and has served as the emergency arm. He has pitched mostly in long relief for the Chihuahuas.
The Padres lineup has been led by Ramón Laureano since the beginning of August. He has six home runs and 20 RBI over that span. His production has completely obliterated all the concerns the Padres and their fans had for the black hole that existed in left field before the trade deadline. With Bryce Johnson supplying pinch running and defensive replacement skills late in games, it is debatable if another outfielder is needed at this time.
Jackson Merrill is scheduled to return to the team before the Sept. 1 roster expansion. If that is what occurs, the Padres will have to send Will Wagner back to El Paso. Then on Monday, the team will have the option of calling Wagner back up or selecting Mason McCoy or Tirso Ornelas.
If the team values experience, then McCoy will get the call. He is a good defender all through the infield and has the most major league at-bats. Wagner was called up instead of McCoy when Merrill was placed on the IL, so the conclusion could be the team values his skill set above that of McCoy. Neither would see much playing time with Jose Iglesias as the first infield option.
Ornelas was activated off the IL for El Paso on Aug. 8. He had been recovering for seven weeks from a bout with Plantar Fasciitis. He has the ability to play all over the outfield and has a .271 average and .982 OPS since his return from the IL. He also has four home runs, seven doubles, 10 BB and 11 RBI with seven strikeouts since his return. Ornelas would only be a consideration if Johnson does not provide what the Padres need in a fourth outfielder. Johnson has not been used for his offense unless an outfielder has needed a day off and it seems unlikely Ornelas will get the call unless something drastically changes.
In a best-case scenario, the extra pitcher and the extra hitter would only be needed in blow-out situations or to get the regulars off their legs as the team works its way to the playoffs. A case can be made for approaching the selection from multiple different viewpoints. The bottom line is that the extra pieces must come from the 40-man roster and these are the only options in that circumstance.