Padres lineup forced to solve Yankees’ bizarre Max Fried-Will Warren piggyback plan

The Padres return home Friday after a miserable 1-5 road trip, tied for the final NL Wild Card spot with 22 games remaining. Naturally, they’re rewarded with a pitching puzzle built to make any lineup uncomfortable. Max Fried will start for the Yankees and Will Warren is expected to follow him.

It’s strange for one. It’s also pretty dangerous. Fried threw only 63 pitches over 3 2/3 innings in his first start back from an elbow injury, and Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he will probably remain in a similar workload range Friday. Warren, fresh off seven innings of one-run baseball against Boston, is lined up to handle the bulk of whatever remains. So the Friars will have to solve two starters in one night.

Yankees’ strange plan could feed the Padres’ worst habits

Normally, the temptation would be to treat Fried’s pitch limit like an early invitation into the Yankees’ bullpen. But knowing that Will Warren is following him isn’t helpful.

New York is trying to avoid exposing its tired relievers. The entire point of pairing Fried with Warren is to cover most of the game with two legitimate starters. If Fried cruises through four innings and Warren takes the next four, the Padres may never see the soft underbelly they were hoping to reach.

San Diego ‘s offense has already been struggling. Even when Fernando Tatis Jr. homered twice Tuesday, the Padres went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Now back at home, they’re going to need to show some urgency right out of the gate.

Fried owns a 2.80 ERA and has held opponents to a .198 batting average this season. He can draw soft contact all night if the Friars come out too aggressive.

The left-right transition is another layer of this plan. Fried gives the Padres a veteran left-hander with command and a deep arsenal. Warren follows from the right side with the ability to work through the lineup multiple times. Any lineup Craig Stammen builds specifically for Fried could lose some of its matchup advantage as soon as Warren enters. So it’s fair to expect him to utilize as much of his bench as he can.

Friday’s game could put the Padres back in a playoff spot

The strange pitching arrangement comes with real consequences for San Diego. A Padres win and a Diamondbacks loss in Houston would put San Diego back above the playoff line. A loss combined with an Arizona win would leave the Padres 1 1/2 games out with only 21 games remaining.

The Yankees can afford to manage workloads and get creative. They enter the series at 80-60 with a comfortable grip on the top American League Wild Card position. For them, the Fried-Warren tandem is a convenient way to protect Fried while covering innings.

For the Padres, it’s a playoff-pressure game hiding inside an interleague matchup.

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