Some aspects of last night’s game between the Padres and Dodgers played out similarly to a playoff contest, with the notable exceptions being that the Dodgers weren’t really playing for anything and Trent Grisham was sent to the plate in the 10th inning.

No matter how dogmatic a manager and/or front office is in their left-right matchup doctrine, there is little chance a guy batting .183 and looking more lost than he has all year is up there swinging (or not swinging) in that situation in a do-or-die game.

For now, Bob Melvin evidently feels he has no choice. He can’t give up on Grisham.

“We need to get him going,” the Padres manager said last night. “Our best team has Grish in there. So you look at some of the production, some of the games he’s had this year — walk-off games, big homers for us. He’s had to sit and watch for a little bit. Hopefully that makes him a little bit more hungry. Couple good games in a row is what we need from him, because our best team has him in it.”

That is true. And it might be a fantasy.

The Padres hope to clinch a playoff spot at some point this weekend, and then they will likely play Grisham in games that don’t have any real implication to see if a player who has devolved into an indecisive shell of the hitter he once was can find some semblance of ability that could serve a purpose in the postseason.

Last night, he missed on a changeup, fouled off a bunt on a changeup and watched strike three on a changeup. It was Grisham’s MLB-leading 56th looking strikeout.

If he can’t get right enough, it is virtually impossible to fathom that Grisham would be allowed to bat with the tying run on third base late in a game.

You can read about the rest of the 1-0 loss, including Melvin’s decision to pitch to Freddie Freeman, who drove in the game’s only run, in my game story (here).

While it was the responsible thing to do, it was hardly worth asking Melvin why he went with the left-handed hitting Grisham against right-hander Tommy Kahnle last night. (Sticking with a left-right matchup was the reason. Melvin had only right-handers on the bench.) It was the same reason Melvin used switch-hitter Josh Bell to pinch-hit for Austin Nola at the start of the inning despite Nola being 2-for-3 in the game. (Both of Nola’s hits were against left-hander Julio Urias, but Nola did have six hits in his past 22 at-bats against righties.)

“No, I liked the first guy up, left-handed hitter, trying to get him over and or get him in,” Melvin said when asked if he considered saving Bell to hit for Grisham. “I was comfortable with what I did, or I would have done it differently.”

It seemed over the weekend the plan was to start Yu Darvish today against the Dodgers, but the Padres never made that official and still weren’t ready to announce a starter last night.

“We have a few things to consider,” Melvin said.

This morning, the Padres announced reliever Steven Wilson will start. This means the Padres will ask for (at least) nine innings from their bullpen. Relievers have covered five innings each of the past two games, but erstwhile starter Sean Manaea is available for what presumably could be one turn through the Dodgers’ order. (Manaea has a 14.49 ERA and 2.27 WHIP against the Dodgers this season but did throw a scoreless inning of relief against them this month.)

There is risk in this move.

The Padres are close enough to clinching a playoff berth that it would be shocking if they don’t. But it isn’t guaranteed. They need victories.

Darvish has gone at least six innings in all four of his starts against the Dodgers in 2022. He shut them out on two hits over seven innings on Sept. 2. But not having him face them a fifth time does have its upside, including that he can face the White Sox tomorrow.

The hope would be Darvish has to make just his next start (presumably tomorrow) in the regular season. That would give him extra rest before pitching the opener of the wild card series.

The risk is that the Padres will still have not clinched a playoff spot by next week and need Darvish to pitch again against the Giants. The earliest he could do so would be the season finale on Wednesday. Then he would not be available for the wild card series. If he pitched today, he would have been able to go again Tuesday against the Giants, if necessary, and be available for a third wild card game.

Josh Hader’s perfect ninth — with two strikeouts and a fly ball out to left field — was his eighth consecutive inning without allowing an earned run.

He continued to mix in more sliders (three) and even struck out Chris Taylor with a changeup, his fifth since joining the Padres.

It is the sinker that has led his turnaround from a stretch of five appearances in which he had a 40.50 ERA. He is throwing the pitch 81.6 percent of the time over the past 10 games, 15 percent more than he had from the start of the 2020 season until the start of this stretch.

“He’s got a heck of a fastball,” Nola said. “It’s one of the best in the game — 99, 100 mph with angle and with some ride. It’s a special fastball.”

Hader is also throwing the sinker for a strike 69 percent of the time versus the 57 percent strike rate over his first seven appearances with the Padres.

Melvin went with Nola over rookie Luis Campusano to catch Joe Musgrove last night.

“Look, either one would have been a good option today,” Melvin said. “But I think the fact that (Musgrove and Nola) worked together quite a bit and (against the Dodgers) you’ve got to have some knowledge about how to go about it. You’ve got to mix things up from time to time too, do things differently and so forth. So just a little difference maybe with a veteran … as opposed to a guy that’s only done it a couple times. But either of them would have been a good option today.”

As I wrote yesterday, it is probable Nola starts every playoff game behind the plate because of the trust Melvin and the pitchers have in him. It was telling that Melvin already went with Nola instead of Campusano, who had caught three of Musgrove’s past five starts.

The earliest the Padres can clinch a playoff spot is tomorrow.

That would require them to win their next two games and the Brewers to lose their next two.

While the Brewers won last night, the Phillies lost their fourth straight game. That means the Padres moved one step closer to the No.5 seed. The Phillies have eight games remaining to the Padres’ seven.

All right, that’s it for me. Talk to you tomorrow.

12:00 p.m. Sept. 29, 2022: This article was updated with the news that Steve Wilson will start for the Padres.

Go deeper inside the Padres

Get our free Padres Daily newsletter, free to your inbox every day of the season.

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Privacy Policy Terms of Service Sign Up For Our Newsletters