Padres Decide Brandon Maurer Better in the Bullpen

The Padres ended the “Brandon Maurer in the Rotation Experiment” Tuesday, letting the reliever know that they feel his arsenal and talent is better suited in the bullpen than the starting rotation. Maurer had gone into Spring Training hoping to lock down the number 4 spot in the rotation but hadn’t done much to merit than spot so far.

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The first two years of his career Maurer had made 21 starts with the Mariners with mixed results, while he pitched exclusively out of the ‘pen for the Padres last year.

Now, the Padres have been pleasantly surprised with Colin Rea, Robbie Erlin, and Drew Pomeranz to fill out the final two spots in the rotation behind Tyson Ross, James Shields, and Andrew Cashner.

Of course, with the current state of major league pitching, most teams have up to 7 qualified starting pitchers at the ready in preparation of the inevitable injuries that pop up. Brandon Morrow continues to rehab from injury, and having Maurer in the bullpen will allow him to help the team where they apparently have a greater need right now. If they need a spot starter and Maurer hasn’t pitched in a few days, he might be able to fill that swing role that Odrisamer Despaigne filled last season.

Said Manager Andy Green: “He’s got a kill pitch, that’s a very powerful weapon to have. If it is the seventh-inning role and we reach for a reliever and there’s guys on second and third, we’ve got a guy that can punch somebody out, who can get through an inning quickly. Those are really nice options to have as a manager.”

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Brandon Maurer for his part admitted to being a little surprised though in his last start he allowed 10 runs before getting through two innings. Though given only three starts to show what he could do, the other ones didn’t go any better as he ended the Spring with 16 runs allowed in just six innings. Now though the club can hopefully secure his services to lock down the 8th inning in their re-modified bullpen that is still getting it’s own shape defined before the season starts.