Good morning,

After Randy Vásquez got run over again, Craig Stammen threw himself under the bus.

“I think we need to probably do a better job setting him up for success,” Stammen said. “I think him pitching in that game at that point in the game is probably a little tougher. The sixth inning, tie ballgame, it’s usually when we go to our bullpen. And we’ve got those guys at the back end that could shut the game down. I’ve got to do a better job putting him in a better position.”

Yes, Stammen could have removed Vásquez earlier, maybe not had him face left-handed-hitting Kyle Tucker, who ended up hitting a two-run homer that put the Dodgers up 4-1 in the sixth. The Padres did have Yuki Matsui up and ready.

But seriously?

We are talking about a starting pitcher who came in after an opener worked the first two innings. Vásquez was working his fourth inning. He had given the Padres 10 outs. They were in the second of 17 games without a day off.

“It got to the point where we were losing in the game with a guy on third base,” Stammen explained. “And I felt like it was probably better for us to try to get some more length out of our bulk pitcher/starter and save the bullpen. Sometimes what you hope happens doesn’t always happen.”

Another way to say what Stammen said last night is that the Padres coaching staff has to find the right spot to insert Vásquez and the right spots to take him out.

Yet another way to say what Stammen said is that Vásquez is not good enough to be pitching consequential innings against the Dodgers at present.

You can read some of the grisly numbers in my game story (here) from last night’s 15-3 loss to the Dodgers, in which Vásquez was charged with seven runs for the second consecutive outing.

Eight days earlier in Texas, he allowed six runs (five earned) in the first inning. Last night, all seven runs (five of them earned) came in the sixth inning.

The main inconvenience presented by Vásquez no longer being able to locate his cutter or get his four-seam fastball by anyone with any regularity is that his turn in the rotation comes up again Thursday. That is the day the Padres begin a four-game series at Dodger Stadium.

Vásquez is out of options. He cannot be sent to the minor leagues without his consent, which presents a predicament.

The Padres do have some options to fill innings around him.

That includes calling up Jhony Brito, who allowed three unearned runs in five innings yesterday and has a 0.96 ERA in four starts (18⅔ innings) for Triple-A El Paso.

Germán Márquez is also said to be ready to return from his rehab assignment.

Rotation situation

The spotlight was refocused on the rotation crisis.

The Padres had gotten two consecutive decent starts going into last night — one run in 5⅓ innings from Walker Buehler on Friday and two runs in 5⅔ innings from JP Sears on Wednesday.  They had gotten at least 5⅓ innings from their starter in four of their previous six games.

The problem is, no starter except Buehler (four times), King (four times) or Sears (once) has completed more than five innings in the past month.

King, who threw seven scoreless innings against the Braves on Tuesday and seven scoreless innings against the Dodgers on May 18, starts today’s series finale.

Then it is back to Griffin Canning’s turn in the rotation for tomorrow’s game at Wrigley Field. Sears and Buehler are lined up to start the final two games of that series against the Cubs.

It is not known how the Padres will handle tomorrow. Canning, who allowed four runs and got two outs on Wednesday, has worked behind an opener his past two outings.

Stammen and pitching coach Ruben Niebla are trying to put pitchers in the best situation on a daily basis. Evidence that Niebla is a master at it includes the fact the Padres have won 24 games in which their starting pitcher went five innings or less. (The only team to have won more such games is the Nationals, who have scored a lot more runs than the Padres.)

But mapping out a game with a starter getting nine or 12 or 13 outs is essentially juggling with knives.

At some point, more than a couple starting pitchers simply have to be better.

Until then, Stammen will be on the top step of the dugout ready to walk in front of the blame bus.

“We need some length out of the starting pitcher,” he said. “We can’t just run our bullpen into the ground. And then there’s also the caveat of trying to stay competitive in a game also. It’s weighing those two options, and me, as the manager, got to figure out a better way to make those two things happen.”

Tidbits

You can read in Jeff Sanders’ game preview (here) from yesterday about the latest on first baseman Ty France, who departed Friday’s game four innings after being hit on the left wrist by a 99 mph fastball. (The good news: X-rays were negative.)
Fernando Tatis Jr. extended his on-base streak to 20 games with a single in the seventh inning. He finished 1-for-5 and is batting .321/.363/.488 during the streak.
Gavin Sheets tied the game 1-1 in the fifth inning with his 13th home run of the season, which puts him one behind team leader Manny Machado. Sheets also singled twice.
Miguel Andujar was 2-for-3 with a double in his second start since coming off the injured list (hamstring) last Sunday. The double in the eighth inning was his 13th of the season, tied with Sheets for fourth on the team and two behind Jackson Merrill and Tatis. But it was Andujar’s first extra-base hit since May 24, a span of 48 at-bats.
Merrill was 2-for-5 after entering the game 2-for-19 over his previous five games.

All right, that’s it for me. (Stammen wants you to know it’s his fault this is the shortest newsletter of the season.)

Early game today (1:10 p.m. PT) and then a flight to Chicago.

Talk to you tomorrow.