SHILDT SAYS: Discussing Yu Darvish’s Return From the IL vs. Nick Martinez, Cosgrove’s Option to Triple-A, Jurickson Profar and Optional Batting Practice
The Padres attempt to end a five-game losing streak Tuesday night at Petco Park against Cincinnati with Yu Darvish coming off the 15-day injured list to pitch against former Padre right-hander Nick Martinez, who is now with the Reds.
Padres manager Mike Shildt opened his daily pre-game media session talking about the matchup sand sending left-handed reliever Tom Cosgrove to Triple-A El Paso.
Shildt on Darvish: “He’s going to be on a pitch count, which I’m not going to announce for clear reasons. And that could be a plus or a minus depending on how hard he is working. Really, just like everything … control counts and get outs. The biggest thing for me with him coming off an injury list situation is that he looks healthy and comes out clean.”
Shildt on Martinez: “Nick meant a lot to the Padres. He brought us a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of competitive spirit. I enjoyed him. I saw Nick yesterday and I always enjoy my time with him. I have a lot of respect for him. He brought a lot of different things, pitched in a lot of different roles. He started and was a big part of the 2022 playoff club. He was successful last year as well. We know what he is. We know who he is and how he goes about it. Now it’s a matter of making sure we can execute against him.”
Shildt on Cosgrove being sent out when Darvish was activated from the injured list: “He’s a big part of our group. We just want him to get a little bit of a reset in Triple-A and we expect to see him back, hopefully sooner than later. He was one of our most reliable relievers last year. He just hasn’t been able to get as much consistency this year as we would like. The biggest thing is just making sure he’s getting a little more finish, a little more bite on his sinker. And like everything else, it’s about putting it where he wants to and getting guys off balance.”
Shildt on Jurickson Profar: “First of all, he’s really a smart baseball player. He competes really, really well. He’s a winning player. He sees the game and then he uses his skill set to be able to compete. He consistently has a good approach. He knows what the situation calls for and then he has the ability and the intent to execute. Right now he’s executing at a very high level. He’s done a nice job defensively and on the bases. He’s just a winning player who sees the game well and he knows how to compete.”
Shildt on the Padres’ pre-game preparations Tuesday: “We had optional batting practice. We’re at the very back end of 13 games in a row and we have a day game Wednesday. This is a very intentional, hard-working group of athletes about how they prepare. We’re giving the benefit of showing up and we’re going to take our ground balls and then allow the guys to decide how they want to get their work to get ready for the game in the batting cages or want to do it on the field. It’s a pretty normal thing and a trust situation with our guys.”
