The Padres desperately need more pitching depth with the uncertainty of their starting rotation. Erick Fedde would provide a boost.

The Padres are down their top two starting pitchers, Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove, for at least the next month. For Darvish, it could be as long as the entire season as his status remains uncertain. He is currently on the restricted list due to a private personal matter.

The healthy part of the rotation has been inconsistent at best.

Matt Waldron has been largely solid over the season but even he has shown some cracks recently, with a 4.41 ERA in his last three outings. Michael King has been fairly reliable. Randy Vasquez and Adam Mazur have appeared overmatched.

Dylan Cease has a 5.88 ERA in his last 11 starts. That’s not what the Padres were looking for when they swung the blockbuster trade for the former White Sox ace.

Is it time to swing another trade for yet another part of the White Sox rotation?

Since Father’s Day (22 games), the Padres’ starters rank 20th in ERA (4.92) and 19th in innings pitched. The rotation as a unit is not getting it done. They need reinforcements badly.

While there are certainly bigger fish supposedly on the market, acquiring a pitcher like Erick Fedde would help stabilize things. He won’t blow you away with elite velocity or eye-popping strikeout numbers. But for the White Sox this year, he’s been a steady presence in a turbulent season for the Southsiders.

Fedde is somewhat connected to the Padres already, as San Diego was the first team to draft him out of high school in 2011 in the 24th round before he opted to play at UNLV. After a solid career in college, he was drafted 18th overall by the Washington Nationals.

This season, Fedde is having a breakout year. During his first six seasons in the majors, he posted a shaky 5.41 ERA. He then tried his hand at pitching in Korea in 2022 and reinvent himself. It appears to have worked.

Now, he owns a 2.99 ERA and 138 ERA+. That’s All-Star level numbers. Even if the peripheral numbers suggest those elite stats won’t hold, his 3.54 FIP would be perfectly acceptable in this limping Padres rotation.

There’s something honorable about Fedde ranking ninth in the American League in innings pitched and ERA on one of the worst MLB teams in recent memory.

With a deal for Fedde, A.J. Preller can upgrade the rotation in San Diego without breaking the farm system. Plus, he is under contract through next season as well. The price point is also attractive, as he is owed just $7.5 million this year and next (with this season being prorated, given it’s midseason).

Given his affordability and that he’s under control through the 2025 season, while he won’t command a Cease-type trade, he won’t come for free. The Padres could offer pitcher Ryan Bergert (No. 7, SD, per MLB Pipeline) and catcher Brandon Valenzuela (No. 11, SD) as a package.

However it happens, the Padres cannot afford to sit idle with their starting rotation if they want to make the playoffs.

Nick Lee

Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.