Padres leave door open for Mike Clevinger postseason return

Mike Clevinger, a big trade deadline acquisition for the San Diego Padres, received his MRI results on Thursday.

The San Diego Padres are in the MLB postseason for the first time since 2006, but they received quite the scare just days prior. Starting pitcher and trade deadline acquisition Mike Clevinger left Wednesday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels after one inning with biceps tightness. Clevinger immediately went for an MRI, and the team was already worried that the pitcher picked up a muscle strain or tendonitis. As it turns out, Clevinger had neither.

According to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Clevinger has been diagnosed with a sprained right elbow and the team is optimistic that he will be able to pitch at some point in October. However, Acee stresses that it will take a couple of days to receive confirmation of whether pitching this postseason is possible.

Clevinger not out of the woods just yet

Clevinger wasn’t supposed to be pitching on Wednesday, as he was scheduled to throw off the mound this past Sunday against the Seattle Mariners. However, Clevinger complained of similar biceps tightness, and had the start moved. After dealing with similar discomfort on Wednesday, the initial belief was that Clevinger could be ruled out for the remainder of the season.

The Padres, realizing their contention window is wide open, made the big splash to acquire Clevinger from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for six players. Adding Clevinger to the rotation of Dinelson Lamet, Chris Paddack and Zach Davies could put them over the top.

Clevinger has played in just four games with the Padres, where he struck out 19 batters and walked three in 19 innings of work. The right-hander has a 2-1 record, 2.84 ERA and 0.895 WHIP.

While the Padres are certainly breathing a sigh of relief, they’re not exactly out of the words just yet. They’ll have to keep an eye on Clevinger for the coming days before making a final determination on whether he can pitch at some point this postseason. Stay tuned.