The Friars make a move to give one young pitcher a rest and another a chance to impress. On the flip side, a Gaslamp Ball friend had to get some bad news.
It was hard to watch Jesse Hahn's last start and not worry about his workload. After having Tommy John surgery in 2010, Hahn began pitching in the Rays organization in 2012. He pitched 52 innings that year and 69 the following. This year between his time with San Antonio and the major league club he has pitched a combine 110 innings. That nearly doubles the amount he threw in the past two years combined. While he may not be likely to blow out his reconstructed elbow, that extra workload leads to fatigue and potentially other injuries. Not to mention the ineffectiveness displayed in his aforementioned last start.
So, the Padres did something sensible today and took away the temptation to use him to help the major league club any further. They optioned him to AA. Unfortunately the demotion is needed because the team cannot just have a roster spot used up by a pitcher getting some much needed rest. So down he goes and in his place will be first time call up Frank Garces.
LHP Frank Garces is a 24 year old Dominican pitcher with whom new GM A.J. Preller should be familiar. He was originally in the Rangers organization and pitched with their Dominican league team in 2009 at 19 years old. He was released and the Padres signed him as a minor league free agent. It was not until 2011 that he resurfaced with the Padres Dominican league team. He pitched well and earned a promotion to Fort Wayne for the following season where he was Midwest League All Star. 2013 brought a promotion to Lake Elsinore where he struggled, but nevertheless he was promoted in 2014 to San Antonio and converted into a reliever. He thrived there to the tune of a 2.07 ERA and 10.8 K/9 over 61 IP. He will join the Padres bullpen with an opportunity to continue to impress.
The final piece in this trio of moves is the DFA of Brooks Conrad. In order for Garces to get his shot, someone had to be taken off the 40 man roster. That someone is unfortunately friend of Gaslamp Ball Brooks Conrad. With all the recent acquisitions of players that can play the same positions as Brooksy (Chris Nelson, Yangervis Solarte and Taylor Lindsey) the team was already moving in a different direction.