Padres: Luis Perdomo reportedly starting Tuesday

With Joey Lucchesi being optioned to the Padres alternate site, Luis Perdomo will reportedly start on Tuesday against LA.

While the Padres utilized the off day on Thursday to skip Joey Lucchesi’s spot in the rotation, the long-term spot in the rotation still remained unanswered. We had a few educated guesses who that guy might be, but apparently the team has decided to go in a different direction.

On Tuesday, Luis Perdomo will get the start against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 27-year-old has made just three appearances from the bullpen this season, tossing five innings while spinning a 5.40 ERA. He hasn’t pitched since August 1 and was one our guesses to be sent down, given how crowded this bullpen is.

But with Luis Patino used for a couple of innings in Sunday’s 9-3 series finale against the Diamondbacks, it was nearly a foregone conclusion that he wouldn’t be starting against LA. The only other logical person to make that start would have been MacKenzie Gore, but that may come in the future.

Regarding Perdomo, he made just one start last year, ten in 2018 and a full slate in 2017. He came up through the Padres system as a starting pitcher, but I suspect that Tuesday’s effort could resemble a Lucchesi start, with Cal Quantrill supporting him for a few innings.

In 60 career starts, Perdomo has a 5.04 ERA compared to a 5.55 ERA as a reliever. From the rotation, the Padres international free agent signing has a 1.521 WHIP and 6.5 K/9. Again, I don’t expect this to be a permanent solution, and Quantrill or another reliever is likely to piggy-back Perdomo’s start.

But for now, it buys the Padres a bit more time to figure out their long-term plan.

UPDATE:

The Padres have moved his start to Monday. Garrett Richards will pitch game two.