On Friday night, the San Diego Padres optioned pitcher Ross Ohlendorf to Triple-A Tucson, creating an opening in their starting rotation. The Padres announced on Tuesday that the open spot will be filled by former Windy City ThunderBolt Andrew Werner. Werner will make his big league debut tonight against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Werner had been 1-2 with a 5.79 ERA in four starts at the Triple-A level. Overall this season, he went 5-10 with a 3.70 ERA and a career-high 109 strikeouts in 22 starts, including 18 at Double-A San Antonio.
The ThunderBolts acquired Andrew Werner on June 7, 2010 in a trade with the Evansville Otters for Vinnie Scarduzio. He went on to post a 10-4 record and a 3.51 ERA in 16 starts for the division champion ThunderBolts. Overall, he finished second in the Frontier League with 11 wins and seventh with 97 strikeouts.
Werner’s final appearance in a Windy City uniform came in the last game of the 2010 season. Pitching in relief for the first time all year, he threw 5.1 hitless innings and retired the last 15 batters he faced in a playoff loss to the Traverse City Beach Bums.
Werner worked out for the Padres over the offseason and had his contract purchased on October 14, 2010.
He began his affiliated career last year at Class A Fort Wayne and was called up to Class A-Advanced Lake Elsinore halfway through the season. In 25 combined starts, he posted a 7-8 record and a 3.23 ERA with 107 strikeouts in 136.1 innings.
When he takes the Petco Park mound for tonight's game, Werner will become just the second player in the nine-year history of the Windy City ThunderBolts and the third in the 14 year Frontier League history of the franchise to play in the Major Leagues. Chris Oxspring, a 2000 Cook County Cheetah, appeared in five games for the 2005 Padres and Dylan Axelrod, a 2009 ThunderBolt, has pitched in 14 games for the Chicago White Sox over the past two seasons.
Werner is expected to start against Pittsburgh’s 11-game winner James MacDonald in San Diego with first pitch scheduled for today at 5:35 CDT.
