Padres Reportedly Looking at Multiple Veteran Starters to Bolster Rotation

The Padres currently have no left-handed pitchers in the rotation.

Your San Diego Padres still need starting pitching depth ahead of the 2024 season. With the ownership group looking to lower payroll, they are looking at the pitchers a tier lower than the top.

According to Jon Heyman of The New York Post, the Padres are active in the market for a few veteran starting pitchers.

Word is the Red Sox, Padres, Nationals, Orioles, Mariners and Pirates are most active in the second-tier starting market, which includes Hyun-Jin Ryu, James Paxton and Michael Lorenzen

Jon Heyman of the NY Post

Hyun-Jin Ryu will turn 37 before the start of the 2024 season. He signed with the Dodgers in 2016 and played there for six years before signing a four-year $80 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.

In his career, he has dealt with a myriad of injuries. Most recently, he had Tommy John surgery in 2022, which caused him to miss most of 2023. 

However, when healthy, Ryu is a more than capable pitcher. The southpaw has a career 3.27 ERA and 3.53 FIP. In limited action last year, coming off surgery, he still had a 3.46 ERA - a better mark than his pre-surgery 2021 year.

James Paxton has not had a normal pitching workload since 2019 due to multiple lower-body injuries. Paxton, 35, has started 25 games in the last three seasons with the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners and the Boston Red Sox.

For his career, Paxton has a 3.69 ERA, 3.46 FIP, and the highest SO/9 of the three at 9.9.

Most remember Michael Lorenzen from his no-hitter last year with the Philadelphia Phillies. A converted reliever, Lorenzen, has started 43 games in the last two seasons with decent success. 

As a starter, Lorenzen, 32, has a 4.41 ERA and 1.351 WHIP. As the youngest of the three, the Padres could use him as a swingman for a few years if they so desired.

All three of these pitchers are exactly what the team needs. Ryu or Paxton would break up the string of right-handed starters currently on the roster, and the Padres would not be asking much of any of them. Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller could sign any of these players for less than $20 million per year as a number three or four starter.