Get Pivetta and Musgrove healthy
Another reason the Canning and Giolito arrivals are so pivotal: The Padres won’t be relying on Pivetta and Musgrove to return at the soonest possible moment. And thus, that duo won’t need to be rushed back into the fold.
Make no mistake, the Padres need Pivetta and Musgrove to have a fully functional and thriving rotation. But they don’t need it in, say, May or June. They need it in September and October.
Musgrove, for one, was never going to make 30 starts this season. If the Padres get 15 effective starts down the stretch and in the playoffs from him, they’ll be thrilled. At this point, the same probably holds true for Pivetta.
Of course, there are no guarantees with starting pitcher injuries. Which brings us to…
Add one more starter at the Trade Deadline
Say what you will about the Padres’ slumping offense right now. They have what they have. It’s a complete group. The bench is strong. The lineup is relatively deep. The stars need to start hitting like stars. Simple as that. There’s no personnel shakeup looming.
As for the bullpen, you wouldn’t put it past general manager A.J. Preller to find another reliever. But that’s also a fairly complete group.
Come trade season, whatever resources the Padres have to spend will be allocated toward a starting pitcher -- and probably the type of starting pitcher you’d be comfortable sending to the mound in a playoff game.
Won’t come cheap. But again -- has that ever stopped Preller?
