San Diego Padres ace Jake Peavy is the newest star pitcher to be placed on the DL. He joins a host of other marquis arms including Brandon Webb, Scott Kazmir, and Brad Lidge. Though his stint on the 15-day DL is retroactive to June 9th, three Padres physicians believe Peavy’s tibialis posterior tendon strain could keep him out of the game for 8-12 weeks.
He has made 13 starts for the Padres this season, going 6-6 with a 3.97 ERA (36 ER/81.2 IP) and 92 strikeouts. Peavy currently ranks among National League leaders in strikeouts (3rd) and strikeouts per 9.0 innings pitched (4th, 10.14), while limiting opponents to a .228 (10th) batting average.
Over parts of eight Major League seasons with the Padres, Peavy is 92-68 with a 3.29 ERA (491 ER/1342.2 IP) and 1,348 strikeouts in 212 starts. He is the Padres all-time leader in strikeouts and ranks tied for second on the club’s all-time wins list.
Obviously, this is horrible news for the Padres, who’s pitching staff, excluding Peavy, is spotty at best. Although San Diego is in second-to-last place in the NL West, they have shown signs of life under the terrific bats of Adrian Gonzalez and (the now injured) Scott Hairston. With Peavy’s injury, San Diego baseball is not looking good.
And of course, this doesn’t help Peavy’s status on the trading block. Multiple teams have shown interest in the competitive hurler, so none of these organizations will want to pay an injured pitcher until he’s proven that he’s over his injury. As a result, the earliest Peavy would get signed is in the winter.
On a side note, how sad is this?: Peavy, Lidge, and Kazmir are all on my fantasy team. I also had Brandon Webb but managed to trade him as soon as I heard how long he was going to be out. It’s a struggle, each and every day.
