The San Diego Padres have sent pitcher JP Sears down to Triple-A El Paso and brought up reliever Sean Reynolds. The team is temporarily shifting to a nine-man bullpen. Sears must stay in the minors for at least 15 days unless he’s recalled to replace an injured player.
Sears, acquired from the A’s along with Mason Miller in a recent trade, made his Padres debut Monday against the Diamondbacks. He struggled, surrendering five runs on 10 hits and one walk over five innings in a 6-2 loss. That outing raised his season ERA to 5.12 over 116 innings. Among pitchers with at least 100 innings, that’s one of the worst marks in MLB. Sears has the highest home run rate in that group, which has undermined his otherwise decent 20.3% strikeout rate and solid 6% walk rate.
This demotion is his first in over two years. Since making the A’s roster in 2023, Sears has stayed in the majors without hitting the injured list, tallying 87 starts—fifth-most in MLB during that time. While his durability is impressive, his overall production (4.62 ERA and 4.56 SIERA) fits that of a back-end starter.
The move won’t affect Sears’ service time. He’s already exceeded three years in the majors and will enter arbitration this winter. He remains under team control through 2028. Although he’ll likely be back later this season, an injury to another starter may be what prompts the return.
Over the weekend, the Padres also optioned Randy Vásquez. For now, their rotation includes Dylan Cease, Nick Pivetta, Yu Darvish, and trade addition Nestor Cortes. Darvish and Cortes will start the next two games. With a day off Thursday, Pivetta and Cease are expected to open the weekend series against Boston on extra rest.
Michael King could return August 10 for the series finale. He threw 61 pitches in a rehab start Sunday and appears ready after missing time with a nerve issue in his throwing shoulder. If all goes to plan, that outing would be his first MLB start since late May.
