MIAMI — Short on starting pitching since April but still hoping to sneak into October, the San Diego Padres have begun experimenting with a rare strategy.Right-hander Randy Vásquez started Saturday’s 7-2 win against the Miami Marlins by allowing one run over 2 2/3 innings. Then, after 37 pitches, he gave way to lefty JP Sears, who went 3 1/3 innings without yielding a run. It was the second straight game — and the second straight victory — in which a Padres starter, by design, was pulled with a low pitch count.“It’s going to be the norm here probably going forward,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said, “until we get some reinforcements or find guys that can handle that traditional starting role.”The Padres are not the first team to attempt such audacity. The 2018 Tampa Bay Rays pioneered the use of openers and bulk relievers. More recently, in an especially relevant example, the 2024 Detroit Tigers coined the term “pitching chaos” as they overcame a two-man rotation on their way to an improbable postseason berth.“I think they showed it’s possible to do,” said Stammen, who opened a handful of games for the Padres earlier this decade. “Will we try to replicate that? Maybe some version of that, on some nights.”Who are the top prospects in baseball right now? Keith LawWith the trade deadline just days away, the Padres are temporarily deploying their own two-man rotation. Michael King, the team’s only starter to complete six innings in any outing since June 4, remains the staff stalwart. To preserve his health, two-time Tommy John patient Walker Buehler will stay on a traditional five-day schedule.And for now, recent starters Sears, Vásquez, Griffin Canning and Germán Márquez — who started Friday’s game by going 2 1/3 innings on 37 pitches — have been asked to serve as opener/bulk-reliever hybrids. Former starters Kyle Hart and Matt Waldron are also members of what could be described as an 11-man bullpen.“I think that we’re all under the same understanding that we’ll all be ready to go when our names are called,” Sears said.The configuration allows Stammen, pitching coach Ruben Niebla and bullpen coach Ben Fritz to essentially pre-script the vast majority of games. It won’t always go according to plan — it largely has against a Marlins team that’s lost 11 games in a row — but the Padres can schedule matchups with more precision while limiting the exposure of certain pitchers.“Looking at personnel, looking at who you have and how we maximize our chances, we’d be foolish to not try something different,” Fritz said.Kyle Hart is part of what has effectively become an 11-man bullpen. “He’s going to be a very vital part of this, how we’re going to try to use this pitching staff,” Craig Stammen said. (Orlando Ramirez / Getty Images)Before Friday, the Padres (52-53) had opened the second half by losing five of seven. FanGraphs puts their playoff odds around 12 percent. While the offense’s OPS ranks eighth in the majors since July 5, a lack of rotation depth continues to be the biggest reason for overall underperformance. San Diego starters, since Opening Day, are 26th in ERA and 28th in innings pitched.