San Diego Padres: A Few Free Agent Pitching Options To Consider

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LOS ANGELES, CA – AUGUST 24: Clayton Richard #3 of the San Diego Padres was taken out of the game after giving up seven runs in four innings to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on August 24, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. Players are wearing special jerseys with their nicknames on them during Players’ Weekend. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

As the offseason quickly approaches, the San Diego Padres should look at signing a starting pitcher that can eat a few innings.

The main focus of this offseason for the San Diego Padres needs to be starting pitching. Overall, the 2018 starting rotation was pretty disastrous and while a few more rookie arms are expected to earn their shot at a rotation spot in 2019, most of these names are fringe prospects or back end of the rotation arms. San Diego doesn’t need to offer up another $100 million+ contract to a free agent arm, but they do need a rotation leader.

The word “ace” isn’t used here because no one on this current roster is an ace of a major league rotation and no upcoming free agent is the type of arm that can lead a playoff rotation. There is one name, Patrick Corbin, however, every major market franchise will be bidding for Corbin’s services this winter, meaning a very large payday for the 29-year-old Arizona Diamondback.

Outside of Corbin, there aren’t very many overly-impressive names heading to the open market. If San Diego is going to focus on upgrading their starting rotation, they will have to look towards the trade market, which may be a smart idea as the team looks to turn this elite farm system into a winning major league franchise.

Current San Diego Padres rotation is severely lacking.

As for the current rotation, Joey Lucchesi and Eric Lauer had successful rookie seasons and show great promise as being major league starting pitchers, but we need to see how the league adjusts to them and how they adjust to the league. Both young men appear more than capable of rising up to the challenge.

But who leads this staff? Before knee surgery ended his season early, Clayton Richard posted a 7.50 ERA in the month of July and a 7.48 ERA in August. He struck out 24 and walked 27 across his final 52 innings of work. Nearly 40% of all opposing hitters reached base against Richard during this time frame. True, he pitched for much of the season when he shouldn’t have, is a true clubhouse leader, and his fellow pitchers are quick to praise his work ethic and value. But through the lens of a #1 pitcher, Richard is far from that. Slot him in as 4/5 starter and you have yourself something.

San Diego starters finished 2018 with the fourth-highest ERA in the league (5.09), seventh-highest BB/9 rate (3.42), seventh-lowest K/9 rate (7.43), third-lowest total innings pitched (822), and third-lowest in fWAR (4.0)

On the next slide, we take a look at three free agent pitchers the San Diego Padres should take a look at this offseason.

HOUSTON, TX – OCTOBER 18: Nathan Eovaldi #17 of the Boston Red Sox pitches in the eighth inning against the Houston Astros during Game Five of the American League Championship Series at Minute Maid Park on October 18, 2018 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

If the prices remain moderate, here are a few pitchers the San Diego Padres should take a look at this offseason.

So who should the San Diego Padres look at on the open market? As previously mentioned, there aren’t a lot of options out there this year, meaning teams that feel they are one or two starting pitchers away from making a deep run next year may be willing to bid high for a number of these upcoming free agents.

Should the price remain at a decent rate, here’s a quick rundown of a few pitchers the Padres should target.

Houston Astros LHP Dallas Keuchel

He may not be a flamethrower but Dallas Keuchel has put up consistently solid numbers over the past five seasons. Keuchel is coming off a 204 inning season in which he posted a 3.74 ERA, 3.69 FIP, and a 3.6 fWAR.

Keuchel may be 31 on Opening Day 2019, however, he is a former Cy Young Award winner, World Series champion, and a three-time Gold Glove Award winner. He has rebounded well from his disappointing 2016 season and could serve as a top-of-the-rotation left-handed option for the Padres. Keuchel is not an ace pitcher anymore but he does bring valuable experience to a very young rotation.

Most importantly, Keuchel averaged 6.0 IP per start. Only Clayton Richard averaged more then 5.0 IP per start for the Padres this season.

Boston Red Sox RHP Nathan Eovaldi

After the postseason that Nathan Eovaldi has had, it seems clear that he will receive a big payday this offseason. The 28-year-old RHP went 6-7 with a 3.81 ERA during the regular season but recorded a career-high strikeout rate of 22.2% and a career-low walk-rate of 4.4%. He was able to create more swings and misses outside the zone and found great success with his cutter, relying on it for the first time in his career.

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Eovaldi has been even more effective in the playoffs, going 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP across 14.1 innings. Think he has recovered well from two Tommy John surgeries? Unfortunately, if he continues his hot postseason in the World Series, Eovaldi may be the second-highest paid free agent starter, behind Patrick Corbin.

Los Angeles Dodgers LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu

This one may be hard for many San Diego Padres fans to look at but Hyun-Jin Ryu has been really solid all year long, when he has been on the mound. Ryu has missed a significant amount of time in 2018 and has just 557 regular season innings under his belt since signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers back in 2013. As long as he can stay healthy, Ryu is an effective pitcher with low-milage.

Ryu made 15 starts in 2018, finishing with a 7-3 record, 1.97 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, and a career-high in strikeouts, sitting down 27.5% of opposing hitters. He limits hard contact, keeps the ball in the ballpark (less than one HR/9 IP), and has lowered his contact rate/increased his swinging strike rate every year since joining the major leagues.

Next. An Intriguing Prospect And A Difficult Rule-5 Decision. dark

What do you think, Padres fans? Which free agent pitchers do you think the organization should target? Any you believe the team should absolutely stay away from?

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