The San Diego Padres have announced that right-handed pitcher Mike Clevinger will undergo Tommy John surgery next week and that they have signed him to a two-year contract extension through his arbitration years. Clevinger will be an unrestricted free agent in 2023. After being traded from the Cleveland Indians, Clevinger started four games for the Padres. He pitched 19 innings with a 2.84 ERA. However, Clevinger left his start against the Los Angeles Angels with bicep tightness and also his NLDS start in the second inning. Given past timetables with Tommy John surgeries, Clevinger will most likely miss the 2021 season. But he should be back for Spring Training in 2022.
The #Padres have signed RHP Mike Clevinger to a two-year contract through the 2022 season.
Clevinger will also undergo Tommy John surgery on Tuesday: https://t.co/pGMY4oAyFu pic.twitter.com/uAc5bsX9JD
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) November 16, 2020
Clevinger’s Tenure in San Diego
The Padres acquired Clevinger from the Indians as part of a nine-player blockbuster trade that sent Josh Naylor, Cal Quantrill, and others to Cleveland, while the Padres also received Greg Allen and a PTBNL. From 2015-2019, Clevinger posted a 3.20 ERA for the Tribe in 84 starts. Clevinger also averaged 10 strikeouts per nine innings. When the Padres traded for Clevinger, they hoped to form a lethal top two starters with Danielson Lamet. Both pitchers missed most of the postseason (Lamet didn’t pitch and Clevinger pitched one inning).
In his last start before injury, Clevinger was dominant against the San Francisco Giants, as he fanned seven in a seven-inning complete-game shutout.
Pitching Depth for the Padres
Outside of Mike Clevinger, the Padres still have a solid top three in the rotation as Zach Davies was excellent in 2020 with a 2.73 ERA and Lamet was fourth in Cy Young voting. San Diego hopes that Chris Paddack reverts to his 2019 self, as he struggled in 2020 with a 4.73 ERA and a 5.01 FIP. The backend of the rotation could be a competition between Luis Patiño, Joey Lucchesi, the highly-touted MacKenzie Gore, and others. They could also look towards free agency for a starter, such as Taijuan Walker or Anibal Sanchez.
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