The Padres have placed right-hander Dan Altavilla on the 10-day injured list due to right elbow inflammation, the team announced. In corresponding moves, southpaw Nick Ramirez’s contract was selected to the big league roster, while left-hander Matt Strahm was shifted to the 60-day IL to create a 40-man roster spot for Ramirez.
It’s an unfortunate quick return to the sidelines for Altavilla, who was only just activated from a 10-day IL stint on Wednesday. A calf injury was the cause of Altavilla’s previous absence, and the righty appeared in two games for the Padres before hitting the IL once more. Altavilla allowed a solo homer to the Dodgers’ Luke Raley in Friday’s game and thus far has a 6.75 ERA over 1 1/3 innings pitched in 2021.
Acquired as part of the big seven-player deal with the Mariners last August, Altavilla has shown some flashes of quality but also a lot of inconsistency over 116 MLB innings since the start of the 2016 season. Altavilla has a 4.03 ERA and an above-average 26.1% strikeout rate over his career, but both walks (12.1BB%) and home runs have been issues for the righty.
Ramirez inked a minor league contract with San Diego in December, and is now set to appear in his third MLB season. The southpaw posted a 4.28 ERA over 90 1/3 innings with the Tigers, with 79 2/3 of those frames coming in his 2019 rookie season, but he pitched only 10 2/3 innings over five games in 2020.
