DENVER — The Padres optioned left-hander Ryan Weathers to Triple-A El Paso ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Rockies, a surprising move geared toward monitoring the 21-year-old rookie’s workload. Right-hander James Norwood was recalled to take Weathers’ place on the roster.
The club is keeping a long-term view with Weathers. With Dinelson Lamet fully built up to a starter’s workload and the team’s decision to scrap its six-man rotation, there was no longer a rotation spot for Weathers, who was recently moved to the bullpen.
But Weathers has been excellent in his new role as well. Entering play Wednesday, he was the only pitcher in the Majors with a sub-3.00 ERA in at least six appearances as both a starter and a reliever. In 14 total outings, Weathers owns a 2.47 ERA.
The Padres’ lack of length and left-handers in their bullpen is currently glaring, but that didn’t impact Wednesday’s decision, which had been planned. The Padres envision Weathers playing an important role on their pitching staff come September and October. They’d like to keep him fresh for it. He had already missed time earlier this season with symptoms of dead arm and arm fatigue.
In June 2019, the Padres did something similar with then-rookie right-hander Chris Paddack, optioning him for 10 days to help limit his innings. Weathers, who has thrown 47 1/3 innings this season, hasn’t quite shouldered the workload that Paddack had in ’19. Then again, the Padres were also content with shutting Paddack down in mid-September. The same won’t be true about Weathers, who must now spend at least 10 days in the Minor Leagues before he can be recalled.
As for Norwood, he arrived in an April trade with the Cubs that sent fellow righty prospect Dauris Valdez to Chicago. In 23 career big league appearances, Norwood owns a 4.50 ERA. He’d posted a 4.24 ERA at El Paso.
