The San Diego Padres placed starter Michael King on the IL May 25 with what has been described as a pinched nerve affecting muscles in his throwing shoulder. There is no timetable for his return and there is an empty spot in the rotation on Tuesday June, 3 against the San Francisco Giants.

Starter Matt Waldron, the Padres knuckleball pitcher that was placed on the IL in spring training when he suffered an oblique strain, was removed from the IL on Sunday and assigned to Triple-A El Paso. Waldron has completed his rehab and is available to the team. The hang up to the plan to start Waldon on Tuesday is that he pitched for El Paso on Friday, throwing four innings and 75 pitches, but would be on short rest if he started against the Giants.

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The other option is right hander Ryan Bergert. Both pitchers are on the 40-man roster and the only move needed would be to send a bullpen arm down in order to call one of them up. Bergert last pitched for El Paso on May 28 (Wednesday) and would be on five days rest if he pitched against San Francisco. Bergert went four innings and allowed no hits with four strikeouts for the Chihuahuas. Bergert was a starter for the Chihuahuas to begin the season but was called up to bolster the Padres bullpen in May. Since going back to El Paso he has been stretched back out in the starter role with an overall ERA of 3.75 in Triple-A.

Tuesday would be the fifth game he would appear in for the Padres and his first start. In his other appearances he has thrown one inning each but has allowed no runs over his four innings pitched and has given up one hit with two strikeouts.

Another possibility would be a piggyback game with Bergert starting and Sean Reynolds following to save the other bullpen arms. Reynolds pitched 1.2 innings against Pittsburgh on Saturday and has pitched more than one inning his last three appearances.

Until King returns from the IL there are two quality starters available to fill in and either can be called on during the long stretch ahead of 23 games with only one off day during the stretch.

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The next seven games are on the road against the Giants and the Milwaukee Brewers, followed by three against the Dodgers at home before the off day. They are then back on the road versus the Diamondbacks and the Dodgers again. Then back home against the Royals and Nationals before another off day. It seems likely both Bergert and Waldron will see plenty of work during this time, even if King returns relatively soon.

Late note: The Padres have just added Ryan Bergert to the taxi squad and he can be expected to be activated after today’s game (June 2- per Kevin Acee).

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