Report: Padres' Mike Clevinger Could Miss MLB Playoffs Because of Arm Injury

San Diego Padres starter Mike Clevinger is not on the Padres' roster as they host the St. Louis Cardinals for the National League West wild-card round, and he could be out for the entire postseason, per ESPN's Jeff Passan. 

Clevinger, who is nursing an arm injury, is on the taxi squad along with presumed Game 2 starter Dinelson Lamet.

Chris Paddack will start for San Diego in Game 1 on Wednesday. 

The 29-year-old Clevinger exited a start on Sept. 23 after one inning and was later diagnosed with a right elbow sprain. A 23-pitch bullpen outing on Tuesday did little to ease concerns about his health, according to Passan. 

Since arriving in San Diego from Cleveland at the trade deadline, Clevinger collected a 2.84 ERA and 0.89 WHIP while fanning 19 batters in as many innings through four starts for the Padres.

The circumstances that brought him to San Diego were unideal: after his teammates accused him of lying to them about breaking curfew on a road trip, he was sent to the alternate site alongside pitcher Zach Plesac, who was also involved. The transaction that sent him west also included outfielder Greg Allen and a player to be named later in return for six players from San Diego. 

Lamet was expected to take the ball from Clevinger for Game 2 of the series after finishing the regular season with a 2.09 ERA, but he left the Padres' game Friday with bicep tightness.

Zach Davies, Garrett Richards, and Adrian Morejon are options for the Padres, who finished the season with the second-best record in the National League at 37-23, as they try to rebuild their scrapped rotation hours before the postseason begins.