The San Diego Padres have made a roster move, optioning right-hander Stephen Kolek to Triple-A El Paso. This paves the way for right-hander Ryan Bergert to start against the New York Mets tonight at 6:40 p.m. Padres.TV will broadcast the game.
Kolek struggled in his recent outings, allowing five runs in 11⅔ innings across two starts on the road trip. Bergert will now take his place in the rotation, at least temporarily. Michael King is slated for a rehab assignment this weekend, potentially with Triple-A El Paso, following a 40-pitch simulated game on Monday. The Padres are also navigating trade interest in Dylan Cease, who exited Monday’s game early after being hit on the head by a comebacker. Thankfully, imaging results came back negative.
“Outside of the feeling of getting hit in the head and the discomfort there,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said, “but anything as far as any swelling or bleeding has been eliminated, which is clearly good.”
Bergert (1-0, 2.84 ERA) is making his first major league start since July 11. This move provides Yu Darvish (0-3, 9.18 ERA) and Nick Pivetta (10-3, 2.81 ERA) with an extra day of rest after a demanding 10-game road trip. In his last big-league start, Bergert allowed two runs in 4⅔ innings. He also made one start for Triple-A El Paso on July 22, pitching 4 innings and giving up 2 ER. This will be his first appearance against the Mets.
Prior to the game, the Padres officially recalled Bergert from Triple-A El Paso. This season, Bergert has a 2.84 ERA and 1.14 WHIP with a 30:14 K:BB ratio over 31.2 innings in 10 appearances (six starts). He will replace Stephen Kolek in the Friars' rotation.
Monday’s win propelled the Padres (58-49) two full games ahead of the Reds (56-51) in the NL wild-card race and narrowed the gap with the Phillies (60-46), the current No. 2 wild-card team, to 2½ games.