Odrisamer Despaigne’s Season Over

Odrisamer Despaigne will not get a chance to pitch again 2014 according to Bud Black. He has been sidelined since September 19^th with a right lat injury. Had these final games meant something to the Padres Despaigne likely would have gotten the ball, but “The risk of throwing him out there this weekend wasn’t worth it” according to Black (h/t Corey Brock).

The 27 year old has had a wild ride since signing with the Padres in May. He blew through AA and AAA, and when the Padres needed him he gave them more than they could have hoped for.

Despaigne started playing professional Baseball in the Cuban National Series for the Industriales de La Habana in 2005 at the age of 18 and stayed there until 2012 when he decide to defect from Cuba with his eye on the MLB. At the age of 27 he signed a minor league deal with the Padres who assigned him to AA San Antonio where he dominated in his first 2 starts and earned himself a call up to AAA.

Upon reaching El Paso he struggled in 5 starts, but due to injuries to Robbie Erlin and Andrew Cashner the Padres decided to give Despaigne a shot at the big leagues.

Despaigne didn’t disappoint. In his first 5 starts he went 2-1 and posted an ERA of 1.31, and fell just short of the first no hitter in Padre history. In his final 11 starts he came back down to Earth. While he showed flashes of the Despaigne who started so strong, he just wasn’t consistent enough to be effective at times.

Luckily for the Padres this is common for young players with their first taste of the show. Despaigne is entering his prime years and should be a fixture in this rotation next year and hopefully years after. He may not be able to pitch in the final series of 2014, but he’s shown us enough already.