Wingenter undergoes Tommy John surgery

SAN DIEGO -- Padres right-hander Trey Wingenter will miss the entire 2020 season after he underwent Tommy John surgery on Friday, delivering another blow to the Padres' bullpen depth -- and a reminder of why the Friars were so eager to add Tim Hill to the mix earlier this week.

Wingenter is the third Padres reliever set to miss significant time this year, joining right-hander Andres Muñoz who underwent Tommy John surgery in March and lefty José Castillo who will be sidelined at least another month with a left lat strain.

In parts of two seasons with the Padres, Wingenter owns a 5.14 ERA, though he may have run into some bad luck last season. In 51 outings, he posted a 5.65 ERA but a 3.61 FIP -- a metric set to the scale of ERA but assuming league average results on balls in play. The Padres are hopeful that Wingenter, who owns a rate of 12.7 strikeouts per nine innings in his career, might make a return in the latter part of the 2021 season.

Even without Muñoz, Wingenter and Castillo -- all of whom projected as Opening Day roster pieces -- the Padres' bullpen sits among the best in the Majors on paper. Kirby Yates is the closer, with Emilio Pagán, Drew Pomeranz, Matt Strahm and Craig Stammen as his primary setup weapons. Plus, the addition of Hill on Thursday gave the Padres a serious threat against left-handed hitters.

"We feel good with our group out there," Padres manager Jayce Tingler said last week when Wingenter was initially sidelined with elbow inflammation. "Any time you lose a guy like a Castillo, like a Wingenter, that's never a good thing. But we do have a lot of depth. We're not big on talking about what this bullpen has done in the past, though. Each year is challenging, especially with bullpens. Guys will have good years, bad years. But ... we're going to have a chance to have a strong bullpen."