McCovey Chronicles will be covering news from around the league all season long with our new daily MLB Chronicles column.
On Wednesday, the San Diego Padres optioned Chris Paddack, their best pitcher, to High A. In his first 12 starts, Paddack is rocking a 3.15 ERA and he’s struck out 72 batters in 62 2/3 innings while only walking 13. The Padres find themselves just five games out of the second wild card spot, and Paddack has been a huge part of that. Only knowing that, this reeks of service time manipulation.