Padres send starter to minors amid struggles

With a record of 72-56, the Padres remain tied with the streaking Arizona Diamondbacks for the top Wild Card spot, sitting behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West. Surely, this level of competition means teams can’t afford being complacent by playing slumping guys. In four of his last five starts, Waldron gave up over five runs, and in their 11-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday, they blitzed him for 12 hits and ten runs in about five innings.

During the season, Waldron had started for 26 games, tied for team leader in starts. After the Twins loss, Waldron claimed that he could still hang in the big leagues.

“I believe I belong on this field. Obviously, that doesn’t show right now, especially on a day like this. Physically, I think I’m capable of getting there… I got to go to the drawing board. It’s going to take some serious work,” the Padres’ starting pitcher said after Wednesday’s defeat.

For his part, Padres manager Mike Shildt acknowledged Matt Waldron’s past contributions to the team.

“He has been really fantastic. I mean, he was a big (lift) for us when Joe (Musgrove) and Yu (Darvish) went down. He really stepped up and (provided) a lot of quality innings. Gave us a lot of ballgames where he won, gave us a chance to win,” Shildt said.

The team may have demoted Waldron to the minors keep him away from big league hitters for at least a couple of weeks. After that, the team hopes he has already ironed out the kinks in preparation for their postseason run.

Moreover, the team could rely on its depth to keep pushing for the Wild Card spot. For one, the Padres’ outfielder Jackson Merrill is a Rookie of the Year favorite, thanks to his hot streak on the plate. With the injured Fernando Tatis, Jr. closer to returning, they’re still in a good place in terms of playoff positioning.