Padres Send Starting Pitcher Ryan Weathers to Chihuahuas
Ryan Weathers has not pitched an inning in the Minor Leagues since 2019, when he spent the entire season with Fort Wayne. The San Diego Padres today sent the seventh overall pick in the 2018 MLB Amateur Draft to El Paso where he will continue his development as a starting pitcher for the Chihuahuas. Weathers will join 2017 First Round pick MacKenzie Gore in the starting rotation for El Paso manager Edwin Rodriguez.
Weathers has been terrific all season long with the Padres, with a 3-2 record and a 2.47 ERA in 14 games this season, including eight starts. Major League hitters are batting just .208 against him this season. However, the Padres have a stacked rotation (Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Joe Musgrove, Dinelson Lamet, and Chris Paddack) and the 21-year old became the odd man out with Paddack pitching well over the last month of the season. Rather than send him to the bullpen, San Diego chose to continue developing Weathers as a starting pitcher in Triple-A.
The Chihuahuas return home today after a 12-game road trip to Round Rock and Oklahoma City. El Paso is currently 16-19, good for third place in the East Division of Triple-A West, 6.5 games back of Round Rock. Weathers last threw three innings on Monday against the Colorado Rockies, and he is expected to make his debut in the Chihuahuas rotation over the weekend against the Sugar Land Skeeters.