The Padres are targeting early August for Lamet's (forearm) return from the 10-day injured list, and he's most likely to work out of the bullpen as a multi-inning reliever upon being activated, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports. "At the end of the day, the rotation is some place I want to get back to, but I'm here to help the team. I'm here to help the team win," Lamet said, regarding a potential move to the bullpen. "So, if that's what my role is right now and that's what I need to do to help, of course I'm going to do it."
Though Lamet avoided offseason surgery to address the elbow/forearm injury that cropped up last September, he's incurred multiple setbacks in 2021 and has had his workloads monitored carefully when available, as he's covered more than four innings in only one of his nine starts to date. Lamet looks to be making good progress in his recovery from forearm inflammation, but the Padres don't seem inclined to have him ramp up for starting duty. Since Lamet would most likely be excluded from the three- or four-man rotation the Padres expect to roll out in the postseason, manager Jayce Tingler is incentivized to have the right-hander get acclimated to working out of the bullpen over the final few weeks of the regular season. Even if Lamet takes well to the role and quickly becomes a key part of the bridge to closer Mark Melancon, the 29-year-old's fantasy value would still take a hit if he does in fact transition from starting to relief duty.