Following yesterday’s exciting comeback, the Padres are back at it again in an evening game tonight against the White Sox. Luis Perdomo gets his first start of the Spring and we’ll be seeing some relievers for the first time as well.
Perdomo made his Major League debut with the Padres last season and pitched solely as a reliever for the first two months of the season. But from June onward he became a regular part of San Diego’s rotation, where he hopes to land to start this season as well. In 20 starts last year, he went 8-9 with a 4.85 ERA and 1.419 WHIP - not the most impressive numbers, but he pitched a few gems.
According to MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell, we should also expect to see some innings from Ryan Buchter, Brad Hand, and Brandon Maurer today in relief of Perdomo. Buchter threw in 67 games while posting a 2.86 ERA and 1.032 WHIP as a rookie in 2016. Hand appeared in 82 games, totaling 89 1/3 innings of work with a 2.92 ERA and 1.108 WHIP. Maurer pitched a combined 69 2/3 innings in 71 games in 2016, his second season with the Padres, posting a 4.52 ERA and 1.263 WHIP.
Chicago will be sending Rule 5 pitcher Dylan Covey to the mound against the Padres this evening. Covey, who attended the University of San Diego, pitched in six games (all starts) for the Double-A Midland RockHounds last year. He went 2-1 with a 1.84 ERA in his appearances, but he suffered an oblique injury in May and had to miss the rest of the season.
The game will be on FM 94.9 tonight starting at 5:40 pm PT.