For starters, Valdez joins Padres bullpen

By: BRIAN HIRO - Staff Writer | Tuesday, March 30, 2004 10:26 PM PST ∞

PEORIA, Ariz. ---- The way Ismael Valdez sees it, he has at least given the Padres something to think about.

Sterling Hitchcock had his worst outing of spring training on Tuesday afternoon and Valdez had his best, but it wasn't enough to overcome the lead Hitchcock had seized in the competition to be the Padres' fifth starter.

"There's nothing I can do about it," Valdez said after making only one mistake, a home run to Kansas City's Tony Graffanino, over three relief innings in the Padres' 9-4 loss to the Royals. "I think the front office has made a decision."

The Padres know that Hitchcock can pitch ---- after all, in his previous stint in San Diego, he was named MVP of the 1998 National League Championship Series. There were some doubts about whether the 30-year-old Valdez could still pitch after his ERA ballooned to a startling 6.10 last season in Texas.

Valdez, however, has performed well enough this spring (a 2.67 ERA in four appearances) to convince the Padres that they will have an effective long reliever out of the bullpen, as well as a spot starter when needed.

"He's ready for his role," Padres manager Bruce Bochy said. "He wanted to know what his role was going to be, and he knows, and that's what he wants to get geared up for. He's all set to assume the role of long man right now. I think he knows that's how it's going to (begin) but he'll probably get some starts, too."

Said Valdez: "I think I give them the option. They can use me as a starter, they can use me in long relief. I think it's a good option for them."

Because of a scheduling quirk, both Valdez and Hitchcock will begin the year in the bullpen. The Padres have a pair of off days in the first two weeks of the season, creating a situation in which they won't need to use a fifth starter until an April 19 game at San Francisco. Hitchcock will start that day, but Bochy acknowledged that he isn't averse to flip-flopping the two pitchers depending on the circumstances.

"We have two experienced starters," Bochy said. "It would be different if you're taking a young kid and bouncing him back and forth (from the rotation to the bullpen). We have one guy, Hitch, who's done it the last couple of years."

Indeed, Hitchcock, who started 102 of his 118 games in San Diego, has since started only 18 of 65 games, most of them with the pitching-rich Yankees.

Valdez, on the other hand, hasn't relieved since he first rose to the big leagues with the Dodgers in 1994. But he equated his move back to the bullpen to riding a bike.

"When you learn something, you never forget about it," Valdez said. "I've been thinking about that. Whether I'm in long relief or starting, it's the same baseball, it's pretty much the same innings. It's not impossible to adapt. It's something that I have done in the past, so I have no problem with it."

Contact staff writer Brian Hiro at b_hiro@hotmail.com.