With 'unique schedule' ahead, Padres shuffle pitching staff

SAN DIEGO -- With a spate of upcoming off-days, the Padres reshuffled their pitching staff ahead of their 1-0 loss on Friday night in the series opener against the Rays at Petco Park.

Kyle Hart, the team¡¯s No. 5 starter, was optioned to Triple-A El Paso. Ryan Bergert, the organization¡¯s No. 21 overall prospect, received his first callup to the big leagues. He¡¯s expected to pitch out of the bullpen.

Here¡¯s what it means:

What¡¯s next for the rotation?
The Padres had an off-day Thursday and off-days next week on Monday and Thursday (surrounding their two-game series against the Giants). Additionally, they¡¯ll have an off-day on May 8 during their upcoming three-city road trip.

From now until May 13, San Diego will need a No. 5 starter only once -- and not until May 6 against the Yankees in New York.

¡°Yeah, we wanted to make sure we were taking advantage of our off-days to rest our starters,¡± said Padres manager Mike Shildt. ¡°But they¡¯re [already] getting rest. Nobody¡¯s going to get compromised.¡±

Indeed, because of the high volume of off-days, the Padres were looking at the possibility of some starters receiving six or seven days between starts. At this stage of the season, they decided that large of a gap was counterproductive.

As such, they¡¯ve set up what amounts to a four-man rotation over the next 3 1/2 weeks (albeit with a vacancy on or around May 6).

One added benefit: With the Giants coming to town for a highly anticipated two-game series between two of baseball¡¯s hottest teams, the Padres can line up their two best starters this season -- Nick Pivetta on Tuesday and Michael King on Wednesday.

What to expect from Bergert?
The team¡¯s sixth-round pick in the 2021 Draft, Bergert impressed during big league camp this spring. In five starts with Triple-A El Paso, he posted a 5.16 ERA, albeit in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

¡°It was kind of surreal,¡± Bergert said of his big league callup. ¡°Very excited and happy to be here. ¡­ I¡¯m coming out of the ¡®pen, not quite sure what my role is. But I¡¯m happy to help and ready to go.¡±

Shildt later revealed that Bergert would mostly be relied upon for long relief -- which gives the Padres some flexibility in their bullpen. Logan Gillaspie had previously been the only other reliever capable of covering length. As a result, Shildt admitted he wasn¡¯t able to use Gillaspie as often as he otherwise might have.

With Bergert on board, the Padres have a deeper group of options in a ¡®pen which has posted a 1.76 ERA, the lowest in the Majors this year entering play on Friday.

What¡¯s next for Hart?
Shildt wanted to make it abundantly clear that Hart¡¯s demotion wasn¡¯t performance-related.

¡°You¡¯re not sitting down having this conversation like, ¡®Listen, it¡¯s not going well,¡¯¡± Shildt said. ¡°It was more of a conversation: ¡®We¡¯re excited about where you¡¯re going. We see improvement. ¡­ The reality is we have a unique schedule where it just makes sense to do what we¡¯re doing.¡¯¡±

The start to Hart¡¯s Padres tenure has been up and down. He¡¯s posted a 6.00 ERA across five starts, though most of that damage came during one rough outing at Wrigley Field.

Hart pitched Wednesday¡¯s series finale in Detroit, allowing two runs over 4 1/3 innings. He¡¯ll continue making regular starts with El Paso. But he¡¯s not eligible to be recalled by the big league club until May 9, ruling him out for that lone early-May vacancy.

What about Darvish?
Left unsaid in the Padres¡¯ rotation chatter is that the club is hopeful to have a key piece rejoin the staff at some point in May.

Yu Darvish, who has been out since mid-March because of right elbow inflammation, threw another bullpen session on Friday, mixing in a heavier dose of breaking pitches. His ramp-up has been a slow, steady progression, as he hadn¡¯t fully built up in Spring Training when he was sidelined.

As a result, Darvish is potentially several weeks off, but he could progress to facing hitters at some point in the near future.

Darvish won¡¯t be an option for the early-May vacancies. But there¡¯s a cost to the current volume of off-days. The Padres¡¯ schedule picks up in intensity in late May and early June. Considering the challenges that schedule will present, Darvish¡¯s return around that time would be a major boost.