The Padres will not be full strength when they walk into Dodger Stadium this weekend to defend their one-game lead in the NL West.
Right-hander Michael King was placed on the 15-day injured list Thursday with left knee inflammation. The Padres are replacing him on the roster with right-hander Randy Vásquez, although the team appears to be considering its options for Friday’s series opener against Clayton Kershaw in Los Angeles.
Officially, Friday’s starter is now listed as to be determined. Dylan Cease will still start on Saturday and Yu Darvish will start Sunday.
So perhaps the Padres will use an opener in front of Vásquez on Friday.
Baseball’s best bullpen is certainly rested, too. The club had Thursday off, and none of the bullpen’s top arms were used in Wednesday’s 11-1 win over the Giants.
Vásquez had a 3.93 ERA in 107⅔ innings in the majors when he was optioned out after his start on Aug. 2 (4 IP, 5 ER) as the Padres reworked their rotation following the trade deadline and King’s return from his nerve issue.
Vásquez will be on four days’ rest after allowing five runs in three innings in his one start for Triple-A El Paso on Sunday.
King (4-2, 2.81 ERA) has already missed more than two months after an issue with his long thoracic nerve popped up in mid-May after sleeping on his shoulder wrong. He threw 57 pitches in two-plus innings (2 ER) in his return from the injured list on Aug. 9 and was hoping to continue to build toward his peak last year, when he started Game 1 of the NL wild-card series against the Braves.
The Padres will update King’s status Friday.
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