Padres notes: Still supporting Randy Vásquez, Ramón Laureano’s mindset

LOS ANGELES — With left-handed hitters bookending the first four hitters in the Dodgers’ lineup, Fridays pitching plan called for left-hander Wandy Peralta to take down the first four hitters.

So after Peralta struck out Freddie Freeman in the top of the second inning to finish his part of the plan, the bullpen gate swung open for the first time.

But Randy Vásquez wasn’t the only starting pitcher who poured out of the bullpen.

Members of the Padres rotation make a point of watching that day’s starter warm up and a bulk assignment for Vásquez wasn’t going to change that.

So Dylan Cease, Nestor Cortes, Yu Darvish, Michael King, Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta followed Vásquez out of the bullpen and walked along the right-field foul line to Dodger Stadium’s visiting dugout as Vásquez jogged to the mound for his second-inning entrance.

It was Darvish’s idea to hang out in the bullpen for an inning and a half to support Vásquez despite the unconventional assignment.

“He’s been out there starting games the whole year, so just out there supporting him,” Pivetta said. “We love Randy. He’s our guy.”

Added King: “That’s how tight our rotation is in general.”

Vásquez was the odd man out after the Padres acquired JP Sears and Cortes among a flurry of deadline moves. Sears was optioned to Triple-A El Paso to make room for King’s initial return from the injured list, but when King’s left knee started barking it was Vásquez who was summoned to Dodger Stadium.

He’d made a point of using his time at Triple-A El Paso to stay ready for this exact situation, even if the deployment on Friday was out of the norm.

“I didn’t take (the demotion) bad or anything like that,” Vásquez said through interpreter Jorge Merlos. “I knew it was a good chance for me to kind of reset and take a break off from pitching and be ready when I came back to the big leagues.”

Vásquez allowed five runs in four innings in his last big-league start on Aug. 2. He made his lone Triple-A start (3 IP, 5 ER) on Sunday before returning on Friday to work in bulk relief.

He struck out both Teoscar Hernandez and Andy Pages to finish off the second inning but coughed up two runs after giving up back-to-back-to-back singles to start the third, although the latter was a bunt that glanced off the glove of a diving Manny Machado.

Vásquez then got through the fourth and fifth innings to hand a one-run game to Jeremiah Estrada. He struck out four, didn’t surrender another hit outside that third inning and walked one batter, which he erased on a double play.

King is not due back from the injured list until at least the Seattle trip later this month, but it won’t be Vásquez drawing an assignment in San Diego on Wednesday against the Giants as he was optioned back to Triple-A El Paso on Saturday to make room for right-hander Ron Marinaccio to fortify the bullpen.

Whether he gets another appearance this year in the majors, Vásquez was happy to know his rotation-mates had his back.

“That felt great,” a smiling Vásquez said late Friday night. “I mean I really appreciated their support when I went out there and got ready.”

Keep it simple …

Ramón Laureano was a minor leaguer the first time he was traded, moving from the Astros’ organization to the Athletics in November 2020. He’s since been waived by a team, released by a team and allowed to walk as a free agent.

But he’d made himself into a commodity again by the time the trade deadline rolled around, pairing a .290/.355/.529 batting line with 15 homers in 82 games with the Orioles.

The pressure of moving from a last place team to a contender has torpedoed plenty of players after a trade, but Laureano has hit the ground running in San Diego.

His second-inning homer off Clayton Kershaw was his third in 13 games since the trade deadline, the most in a Padre’s first 13 games since Trent Grisham in 2020. Hunter Renfroe’s five home runs from his debut late in 2016 to the start of the 2017 season is the most ever by a Padre in his first 13 games with the team.

Laureano is hitting .327/.389/.633 with the Padres because, he said, his focus is singular and encompassing more than his how stat sheet.

“I’m just trying to help the team win,” he said. “I think I just settle down more and just play for the team.”

Notable

• C Freddy Fermin remained in the game after colliding chest-first with the dugout rail in the second inning while trying to run down a fouled pop-up. After the game, Padres manager Mike Shildt said a shin that apparently struck a camera was more of the concern. “He’s one tough kid, man,” Shildt said. “When it hit, I mean full bore, I thought maybe his sternum or ribs, but he looks like he’s going to be fine.” Fermin was on the training table after the game and not available to speak with reporters.
• Not only did Fermin stay in the game, he threw out Shohei Ohtani with a 1.79-second throw to second base to end the third inning, his fastest of the season and a tick off his personal best (1.78). His 1.89-second average this year ranks in the 92nd percentile.