The bad news is Padres starter Dinelson Lamet, one of the best starting pitchers in baseball, is going on the 10-day Injured List. Lamet left Wednesday’s game against the Brewers with forearm tightness in his pitching arm after just two innings.
The good news is, he might not be injured that badly.
“Lamet feels very, very good. The plan for him now is to continue to check him out,” says Padres manager Jayce Tingler.
Doctors did an ultrasound and didn’t find any inflammation or fluid buildup so they decided against ordering an MRI. Lamet will, somewhat surprisingly, resume his normal throwing schedule.
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“He’ll throw a little bit tomorrow (Friday) but he reported feeling very, very good so far. If everything goes well, we’re going to shoot for him to make the start after 10 days are up,” says Tingler.
The skipper said this is the only setback Lamet has had in his buildup to the season and suggested the issue might have been with the increased adrenaline from throwing in a real big league game again or perhaps even swinging the bat, something he hasn’t been doing much in his rehab work, that caused the discomfort.
More bad news: reliever Keone Kela is also headed to the 10-day IL. The right-hander has shoulder tightness, something he’s dealt with on and off during his career. Relievers Nick Ramirez and Nabil Crismatt were recalled from the alternate training site.
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With Ryan Weathers starting Thursday night’s game at Dodger Stadium the Padres won’t need to address Lamet’s spot in the rotation until Wednesday, April 28 at Arizona at the very earliest. With two off days next week it’s possible they can get him off the IL without having to add any other starting pitchers to the roster.
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