Griffin Canning’s return could push Padres toward a surprising trade deadline pivot

Griffin Canning finally made his debut for the San Diego Padres and it went... pretty well, all things considered. He allowed three hits and three walks while striking out seven, covering five innings for a rotation that has needed stability beyond Michael King and Randy Vasquez since Opening Day.

If Canning can keep this level up over the rest of the season, then the Padres' pitching depth woes may finally be solved. Lucas Giolito is expected to join the fray in the coming weeks as well, which would give the Friars a pretty decent top four in the rotation.

You'd also expect German Marquez, Nick Pivetta, and Joe Musgrove to return from the injured list at some point, and by then, the Padres might actually have too many pitchers. Factor Walker Buehler, JP Sears, Kyle Hart, and Miguel Mendez into the equation, and that gives the team 12 starters on the 40-man roster to work with.

If all goes well in terms of health for the injured contingent, could that kind of depth enable A.J. Preller to actually trade away pitchers for hitters at the trade deadline?

Padres' gradually evolving pitching depth may be the team's best weapon at trade deadline

Though the pitch staff overall is being carried by the bullpen (namely, Mason Miller), the Friars have still been surprisingly good on the run prevention side of things this year. Though they rank 19th in ERA (4.30), they fall just shy of the top 10 in FIP (3.87), SIERA (3.85), and strikeout rate (22.8%), all of which are much better indicators of future success.

Meanwhile, the offense remains anemic, despite all of the big (and highly paid) names on Craig Stammen's lineup card. They're middle of the pack in runs scored (157, 15th-best), but by wRC+ (96), strikeout rate (22.1%), and groundball rate (45.9%), they Padres rank in the bottom half of all teams.

Throw some middling defensive numbers into the mix, and it's clear that a focus on adding position-player talent may be the modus operandi come summertime. Where any prospective additions would fit in is anyone's guess -- every position is accounted for by a well-compensated starter or flexible platoon rotation -- but upgrades to the offense are a must after watching this team swing their way out of the playoffs during last year's Wild Card Round.

Of course, trading away a starting pitcher or two is only an option if everything breaks right. Extended absences from Musgrove or Pivetta would challenge any such plan, and it's not like Waldron or Buehler have been worthy of their 40-man roster spots this year. The fact that both are still in the rotation out of necessity is just proof that you can never have too much pitching depth.

But with a clear need and Preller calling the shots, nothing is off the table. He flipped two controllable starters (Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek) for Freddy Fermin last year, after all. Maybe Canning and Giolito will be good enough to encourage even more boldness this time around.

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