Prior to the San Diego Padres' Friday night contest against the Miami Marlins, they made a slew of moves to reconfigure their bullpen following a hard-fought series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Padres called up two fresher arms in Carl Edwards Jr. and Jhony Brito in place of Alek Jacob and Randy Vasquez, according to their official X account. Both Jacob and Vasquez were optioned to Triple-A El Paso.

These are moves that may end up not sticking for the Padres. One would think that both Jacob and Vasquez are more valuable long-term for the Padres than a 32-year-old reliever who has not pitched many innings in the big leagues in 2024 (Edwards) as well as an inconsistent relief pitcher who can't strike out batters despite his velocity (Brito).

Jacob, in particular, should be back in the big leagues quite soon. He was very impressive in his most recent relief outing, striking out the side in the bottom of the eighth inning in what ended up being a 9-8 win for the Padres over the Pirates on August 7. That electric performance warrants more playing time, but perhaps the Padres are saving him for higher-leverage innings, what with San Diego embarking on a three-game weekend set against the Marlins.

The minor-league option on Jacob also afforded the Padres flexibility, as they were in dire need of pitchers to soak up some innings. But it's clear that Padres fans aren't too keen on seeing Edwards on the big-league roster for long. The 32-year-old was shaky in relief, failing to record an out while allowing two baserunners to reach base via walk.

Padres look to cement their place in the Wild Card standings

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At present, the Padres are in pole position in the NL Wild Card standings with a record of 64-52. This also has them just 2.5 games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL West division lead, so they have a golden opportunity to make the Dodgers sweat with their upcoming games.

The Padres will be looking to take care of business against the Marlins this weekend, and then they have another battle against the Pirates to take care of to begin next week. The hope is that their string of transactions would help them get the wins they need.

Jhony Brito, at the very least, has pitched 41.1 innings for the Padres this season, so he at least has some experience in holding the fort for San Diego.