The Padres have not given up on Bryan Mitchell, but the endeavor to make him a starter has taken a detour.

Mitchell was informed he is, for the time being, a member of the bullpen.

“Probably the best path to him being great as a starter with the Padres,” manager Andy Green said, “is to take a step back, go to the bullpen and dominate a different role.”

Jordan Lyles will start Thursday in Mitchell’s normal turn in the rotation.


Lyles has a 5.32 ERA in 107 career starts with Houston, Colorado and the Padres. He was 1-3 with a 9.39 ERA in five starts for the Padres last season. How long Lyles remains in that role is dependent on his performance and that of some minor league pitchers the Padres anticipate calling up before too long in order to gauge their readiness.

The Padres remain confident in Mitchell’s mix of pitches, but he has not been able to consistently throw strikes or maintain an attacking mindset.

It’s been a problem in all but one of his starts. And on Saturday, he was pulled with one out in the third inning, having allowed three runs on five hits and three walks.

He has a 6.47 ERA in seven starts and has gone six innings just once.


The Padres acquired Mitchell from the Yankees along with Chase Headley in December. They were willing to take on Headley’s $13 million contract, in part, because they believed all Mitchell needed was an opportunity to start.

The 26-year-old was a reliever and fill-in starter over the past four seasons in New York, shuttling between the Yankees and Triple-A.

“The message to him was, ‘Earn it back,’ ” Green said. “It wasn’t, ‘You’re in the bullpen for the rest of your career with the San Diego Padres.’ It was, ‘Go out there and throw one good inning and go dominate that inning. Then after you dominate that inning, go dominate two innings. Go after this progressively and then you’ll feel like you have earned the right to be in this rotation.’ That was the encouragement and he took it, hopefully, with some motivation.

“We still believe very much in his stuff.”


kevin.acee@sduniontribune.com

UPDATES:

5:20 p.m.: This story was updated with quotes and further reporting.