Sunday Brunch: Should Cashner Start Or Relieve For The Padres?

Andrew Cashner was the prize in the deal for slugging first baseman Anthony Rizzo back in 2012. Cashner has had his moments as a starter. Just look at his past two games for the Padres. He’s been absolutely filthy.  But there are concerns about Cashner.

Last year was the first year he reached the 175-inning plateau. This year? Shoulder an elbow issues have limited him to just 118 innings so far. Cashner has experience as a reliever in his career, and with his durability issues should he continue as a starter?

The Padres have some other starters that give the Padres some depth. Ian Kennedy is the defacto ace. Tyson Ross has emerged this year in his All-Star campaign. There are others like Jesse Hahn and Joe Wieland and maybe next year Casey Kelly can come back.

A 7-8-9 combo of Cashner, Alex Torres, Kevin Quackenbush and Joaquin Benoit would be absolutely lethal. Cashner has been a reliever before in his career.

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To me though, it would be hard to take that kind of power arm out of the rotation. In a division that has explosive offenses, you need power arms not only out of your bullpen, but of your rotation. All throughout September, he’s gone at least seven innings in every start which is a nice springboard for next year.

A top three in the rotation of Kennedy, Cashner and Ross gives the team a nice start in building the squad for next year. With some additional payroll, maybe they can bring in a veteran for the fourth spot to give them some depth or see how someone like Odrisamer Despaigne continues to develop.

The Padres are in a good spot with their rotation, and Cashner should be a part of that moving forward.