News
Latos likely has two starts remaining
Padres also monitoring innings for young Carrillo, Stauffer
By Corey Brock / MLB.com
08/20/09 9:22 PM ET
SAN DIEGO -- Padres manager Bud Black said Thursday that rookie pitcher Mat Latos will make his next scheduled start on Tuesday in Atlanta, though it appears the 21-year-old might make just one start thereafter.Before allowing five runs in his shortest start with the Padres (3 1/3 innings), San Diego general manager Kevin Towers said that Latos would likely be shut down for the season following his start on Aug. 30 against Florida.
Latos then went out and allowed five runs on seven hits with four walks in a 7-1 loss to the Cubs on Wednesday. It was Latos' second successive rough outing. He allowed seven runs in four innings against St. Louis last Friday.
"I feel a little bit of wear and tear," Latos said after the game. "It's not something I can't push through."
Latos has now pitched a total of 109 2/3 innings this season between two Minor League stops and his seven Major League starts.
Latos, who started the season with low Class A Fort Wayne, pitched 56 innings a year ago, and Towers frequently said that it was his preference that Latos didn't more than double his innings this season.
Latos will get an extra day of rest because of Monday's off-day.
"Right now, we still think he'll make his start Tuesday," Black said.
Black noted Wednesday and restated again on Thursday that Latos hasn't said anything to him about being tired or wore down. Black also said he hasn't noticed a depreciable drop in velocity or the sharpness in Latos' secondary pitches.
"You look at his fastball, it still had life to it," Black said Wednesday.
When the Padres do shut down Latos, he won't just disappear. Towers said that the young hurler will likely do some throwing on the side and then, "become a student of the game," the GM indicated.
Latos isn't the only pitcher in the Friars' rotation the team is keeping an eye on. Cesar Carrillo, who missed nearly all of 2007 and half of '08 recovering from Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery, has thrown 145 1/3 innings between Triple-A Portland and San Diego.
Carrillo threw all of 57 1/3 innings last season.
Tim Stauffer, who got the start Thursday against the Cardinals, has thrown 78 innings in 2009 between the Minor Leagues and San Diego. He didn't throw a single inning a year ago while recovering from shoulder surgery.
Corey Brock is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
