SAN DIEGO -- Consider the brutal hit the Padres' bullpen has taken within the past five days: On Monday, they learned All-MLB closer Kirby Yates would need surgery on his right elbow to address bone chips. Four days later,
The Padres mulled sending Richards out for a third inning. But the veteran right-hander is coming off 2018 Tommy John surgery, and the Padres weren't willing to push it. They like having a healthy Richards in their rotation, thank you very much.\n\n“He wanted to go,” Tingler said. “That's the competitive warrior spirit in him. We went back and forth. You start going 64 pitches in two innings, you're entering the danger zone.”\n
Right-hander
“What he's trying to do on the fly, it could possibly be the hardest thing for a pitcher that I've ever [seen],” said right-hander
From there, the overburdened bullpen held on for dear life.\n\n“Gutsy,” Tingler said. “From all those guys.”\n\nThe Padres would’ve preferred to give Pagán the night off, after he'd blown a save Thursday. But they didn't have much choice. Tingler had already used Guerra,
“I have full confidence that when it's all said and done, they're going to be one of the top bullpens in the game,” Padres catcher