Padres reliever Craig Stammen “likely” not pitching again

Craig Stammen didn’t have a great chance of making the San Diego Padres roster going into Spring Training but he was doing his best to prove he should be one of the 26 (4 IP, 0 ER, 2 K). That’s why it’s disappointing to see the latest update on the 39-year-old.

Stammen spoke with Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune this morning. “Without saying that I’m done it’s highly unlikely that I pitch again.”

A day after Bob Melvin told the media that his injury, which occurred on Friday against the Kansas City Royals, wasn’t as bad as it appeared, it turns out that Stammen’s recovery time would be 4-6 months without surgery after tearing a capsule in his right shoulder and straining his sub scapula. These injuries are related to the rotator cuff tear he suffered during the 2022 season.

Stammen was like Wil Myers. He was one of the few Padres who was there when they lost over 90 games in 2017 and wanted to be with franchise when they won it all.

“I’m fighting back tears talking to certain people,” Stammen told Acee. “But I feel really at peace. I kind of knew this was a possibility last year, even in July. I kind of went through the whole grieving process. Even the last game of the season, I was like, ‘This could be my last game ever.’ So I went through all that kind of stuff. So this isn’t as much of a shock as what it could be.

Stammen pitched for six seasons with San Diego, logging 394.1 innings and appearing in at least 60 games in his first four seasons with the Friars not including 2020.

He doesn’t know what the future holds but it seems like he wants to try to recover, as he told Acee “...hopefully maybe they’ll let me rehab for a little while.”