SAN DIEGO -- After two weeks on the injured list with lower back tightness, Padres right-hander Yu Darvish is expected to make his return for Thursday's series finale against the Dodgers at Petco Park.

That's good news for San Diego for two reasons. First -- and quite obviously -- Darvish is good. He owns a 3.70 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP in 23 starts this season. But when healthy, he's been even better than that. Remove the two outings in which he was injured, and Darvish's ERA this year is 3.08.

But there’s another reason the Padres are so desperate for Darvish's return -- and, for that matter, the impending return of Chris Paddack: Johnny Wholestaff could use a breather.

With an ailing rotation and without enough depth to cover their starts, the Padres' relief corps has been taxed in a big way this month. They’ve been forced into six bullpen days.

The Padres are 3-3 in those games, but they've paid the price elsewhere. San Diego relievers entered the month of August with a 2.94 ERA, the best mark in the Majors. Since then, that bullpen has a 4.10 ERA, good enough for 19th.

"It may not affect that particular game," said right-hander Craig Stammen, who has served as opener for three of those bullpen days. "We may pitch good that bullpen day. But then, for the rest of the week, it's, 'Well, this guy pitched two innings, he needs a day off. This guy also pitched and needs a day off.’ It just jumbles up the roles.

"It's not that we're not willing or that we can't do it. But it's nice when we get a starter that can go five, six or seven innings."

With injuries plaguing their rotation, the Padres haven't gotten enough of that this season. The bullpen has been asked to cover 538 2/3 innings, the most in the Majors.

As the dog days hit, that workload only increased, with Darvish and Paddack on the injured list and rookie left-hander Ryan Weathers struggling. The Padres opened their critical series against the Dodgers on Tuesday night by asking eight relievers to cover nine innings, including Pierce Johnson, who made his first career start.

"We're trying to manage it, we're trying to get through this period of the season still in the hunt," Stammen said. "And we are still in the hunt. We're getting two of our studs back. It's going to make us that much better."

There's not yet clarity on a specific return date for Paddack, who hasn’t pitched in August because of a left oblique strain. But the Padres are optimistic Paddack could pitch on the team's upcoming road trip in either Anaheim or Arizona.

"I think maybe the media makes [bullpen days] a bigger deal than what we make it," said Padres right-hander Austin Adams. "At the end of the day, we're here to pitch. Yeah, it's a little taxing. But it's our job. ... I mean, really, I'm just excited to have Yu Darvish and Chris Paddack back."

Fair enough. Still, the ripple effects of Darvish and Paddack being activated from the IL could be huge, considering the way the Padres' schedule lines up. They have an off-day Sunday, another next Thursday and two more the following week.

If Paddack is ready to return on Saturday against the Angels (and, to be clear, the Padres won't rush him), that could spell the end to bullpen days for a while.

"Hopefully, if those guys throw the ball the way they're capable of, that can give [the bullpen] a rest period," manager Jayce Tingler said. "That would be huge."

Of course, even if the Padres get healthy (and stay healthy) down the stretch, they might still employ a bullpen day at some point in mid-September when they embark on what figures to be a season-defining 10-game three-city trip through Los Angeles, San Francisco and St. Louis.

Those games will carry significant weight in the playoff race, and the Padres might decide they would prefer to use their bullpen for a day instead of either Weathers or Jake Arrieta. But there’s a difference between choosing an occasional strategic bullpen day and being forced into six of them in the span of 20 games.

"You look at all the teams that are playing well right now, they've got starters they can count on on a daily basis," Stammen said. "We've gotten used to these bullpen days. But I think things just run better when there's a starter the next day."