LAKE ELSINORE — San Diego Padres RHP, Mike Clevinger, had been working his way back from Tommy John surgery and was primed to open the season in the San Diego Padres rotation, but a knee flare-up put him on the shelf.
Clevinger took his first steps toward returning from his right knee sprain, throwing two scoreless innings in his first rehab start with the low Single-A Lake Elsinore Storm Thursday, April 14. He allowed one hit, a leadoff double, before striking out two in the first inning and all three batters in the second. Clevinger threw 24 of his 31 pitches for strikes as the Storm went on to win 14 to 3.
Keep a watchful eye on this rehab which will likely require a few more minor league outings before he gets the greenlight to go back to Petco Park. Clevinger has phenomenal stuff and will have shaken off the rest of the rust from being idle for so long. The Padres brought in former Cleveland assistant pitching coach Ruben Niebla to help with Clevinger’s return and MLB insiders expect the results to be huge.
Lake Elsinore continue their six-game opening home stand against Visalia throughout the weekend. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m. Friday night, 5:05 p.m. on Saturday and 4:05 p.m. on Sunday.
Visit www.stormbaseball.com for more info, or call (951) 234-HITS (4487).
JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com.
