With four off-days before the All-Star break, the schedule will give the Padres’ bullpen a break.
Help is on the way, too.
Left-hander Austin Davis’ contract was selected from Triple-A El Paso before the start of a three-game series at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox.
In corresponding moves, left-hander Tom Cosgrove was sent to the 15-day injured list with elbow inflammation and Joe Musgrove (elbow) was moved to the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man roster for Davis.
The move to the 60-day injured list pushes Musgrove’s return off until August.
Cosgrove struck out two over 1⅓ scoreless innings in his return to the Padres on June 21, but allowed five runs over his next 1⅓ innings, including four runs while recording just one out on Wednesday, pushing his ERA to 11.66 through 14 ⅔ innings in the majors.
The 31-year-old Davis signed a minor league deal with the Padres in January and was 8-for-10 with 37 strikeouts, a 3.10 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP through 29 innings in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
Davis has a 5.61 ERA in 144⅓ innings in the majors. His last appearance was in 2022 with the Twins as he spent the 2023 season split between the Astros’ Triple-A affiliate and independent baseball.
In his last year in the majors, Davis paired a mid-90s four-seamer with a sweeper, a sinker, a changeup and a seldom-used curveball.
The Padres are coming off playing 38 games in 39 games, a stretch in which their bullpen allowed a 4.29 ERA (20th in the majors).
Before that, the team’s 3.94 ERA ranked 16th in the majors.
Here is how the Padres will line up for Game 1 in Boston (4:10 p.m. on Apple TV+):
#FridayNightBaseball at Fenway.
📺: https://t.co/WtqPJHN61q pic.twitter.com/kTJXw3x73r
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 28, 2024
Here is Boston’s lineup:
Padres up next. pic.twitter.com/EGjf6f8GJS
— Red Sox (@RedSox) June 28, 2024
Friday’s pitching matchup
Padres RHP Randy Vásquez (2-4, 5.10 ERA)
He threw five shutout innings in his last start to pick up his second win of the season. Vásquez faced the Red Sox once last year with the Yankees, allowing a home run to Rafael Devers while giving up two runs in 3⅔ innings in a start at Fenway Park.
Here is how Vasquez has fared against current Red Sox hitters:
Red Sox RHP Nick Pivetta (4-4, 4.06 ERA)
His 4.27 strikeout-to-walk ratio would be the best of his career if the season ended today, but he has a 5.87 ERA over his last start. Hitters have a .328/.380/.594 line and four homers off him over that stretch. Piveta allowed a run in 2⅓ innings against the Padres last year while in Boston’s bullpen. He has a 5.57 ERA over 21 innings against San Diego.
Here is how Pivetta has fared against current Padres:
