News
Towers won't deal for pitching help
With three starters on disabled list, GM to promote from within
By Corey Brock / MLB.com
04/26/09 4:50 PM ET
SAN DIEGO -- General manager Kevin Towers said Sunday that he won't go outside the organization for pitching help, even after Shawn Hill became the third starting pitcher or projected starter to go on the disabled list in the last month.Instead, the team will promote right-hander Chad Gaudin from Triple-A Portland before Monday's game in Denver for a start the following day against the Rockies.
Gaudin will actually take the rotation spot of Josh Geer, who threw four innings of relief Saturday, the same game where Hill left his start after two innings because of soreness in his right biceps and pain in his right elbow.
Hill was placed on the disabled list before Sunday's game against the Pirates with what the team was calling inflammation of his elbow. Outfielder Drew Macias replaced Hill Sunday on the 25-man roster after he was promoted from Portland.
A week ago, Walter Silva was placed on the disabled list with a strained right forearm, the same injury that felled another starter, Cha Seung Baek, in the final week of Spring Training.
Gaudin hadn't allowed an earned run in 8 2/3 innings with Portland after signing a Minor League deal with the Padres on April 12, doing so because the stipulation was he would be used as a starter and not a reliever.
Gaudin threw 80 pitches in his last start for Portland, and by starting Tuesday against the Rockies, remains on a normal throwing program.
As for Hill, he will remain in San Diego on Monday and have an MRI and stress test on his right elbow, one that he had reconstructive surgery on in 2005.
"It didn't sneak up on me ... it's been bothering me for a while but I was managing it," Hill said. "Playing long toss I could feel it. I wasn't fooling anybody [Saturday] and I wasn't beating anybody."
Hill left the game after allowing three runs on five hits over two innings. Geer came in and allowed five runs in four innings. He would have started Tuesday in Colorado but now will start Thursday in the opening game of a four-game series in Los Angeles.
The Padres will have to make another roster move Tuesday to accommodate Gaudin -- not only on the 25-man roster but the 40-man roster as well. That will likely mean the team will part with one of its eight relievers.
One possibility could be reliever Eulogio De La Cruz, who walked five on Saturday and allowed two runs. De La Cruz, who has a 5.40 ERA, has appeared in three of the first 16 games this season.
Corey Brock is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
