J.P. Sears couldn’t have asked for a worse debut with the San Diego Padres on Monday night.
The left-hander, who the Athletics shipped to San Diego on trade deadline morning, got lit up against Arizona. Five earned runs on 10 hits across five innings. Not exactly the first impression you’re hoping for in a new uniform.
The Padres didn’t waste time making their feelings known.
One day later, they optioned Sears to Triple-A El Paso and called up reliever Sean Reynolds. That’s about as quick a hook as you’ll see for a guy they just traded for.
What makes this more telling is that Sears isn’t the only starter getting demoted. Randy Vázquez got sent down to Triple-A just three days earlier. The Padres rotation now consists of Dylan Cease, Nick Pivetta, Yu Darvish and Nestor Cortes Jr.
That’s where the trade deadline context matters. San Diego acquired Sears and closer Mason Miller from Oakland in exchange for four prospects, headlined by shortstop Leo De Vries – who happens to be MLB Pipeline‘s No. 3 overall prospect. They also sent right-handers Braden Nett, Henry Báez and Eduarniel Núñez to the A’s.
It’s a hugely consequential development when you’re moving that kind of prospect capital and the pitcher you acquired can’t stick in the rotation.
Sears came over with a 7-9 record and 4.95 ERA across 22 starts in Oakland. Monday’s outing pushed those numbers to 5.12 ERA and 1.31 WHIP. He’s struck out 101 batters against 30 walks in 116 innings this season, which isn’t terrible, but the results haven’t been there.
The way I see it, this puts more pressure on Miller to justify the trade package. You don’t move a prospect like De Vries for one reliever, even an elite one. Sears was supposed to provide rotation depth for a team trying to make a playoff push.
Now the Padres are working with a four-man rotation and hoping their Triple-A options can figure things out. That’s not exactly the position they expected to be in after deadline week.
