Padres right handed Dinelson Lamet made his highly anticipated debut against the Brewers in 2021 on Wednesday, but before long. Lamet took off with a tight forearm after two innings and 29 pitches, the team announced.
Lamet has been recovering from a UCL strain in recent months – an injury that prematurely ended his breakout 2020 season. Prior to Wednesday, he had not taken the hill for the Padres since Sept. 25 last year. The hard-throwing Lamet finished last season with great numbers – a 2.09 ERA / 3.16 SIERA with a 34.8 percent strikeout percentage in 69 innings – and could help form an elite foursome alongside Yu darvish, Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove if he is able to recover quickly and stay healthy for the rest of the season. That is of course in the air now in light of Wednesday’s news.
If Lamet has more time to spare, this would be the second shot to the Padres’ starting depth this week. The team learned on Tuesday that lefty Adrian Morejon, who started the year in their rotation, are undergoing Tommy John surgery. Even without Lamet and Morejon, San Diego could still be a capable five-man starting staff with Darvish, Snell, Musgrove, Chris Paddack and Ryan Weathers. However, there is no doubt that the Padres are a better team with a healthy Lamet, who finished fourth in the 2020 National League Cy Young voting.