Aaron Loup faced two or fewer batters in 19 of his 59 outings last year, 19 of 70 the year before that and 16 of 71 in his busiest year in 2014.
Without a traditional one-out, left-handed specialist among last year's collection of relievers, manager Andy Green was seeking someone with precisely Loup's set of skills when the Padres took a serious interest in the 31-year-old Louisianan in the weeks leading into camp. Yet Loup was eager to expand his horizons in San Diego.
"I hate getting labeled as a specialist," said Loup, who signed a $1.2 million deal for 2019 that includes up to $800,000 in incentives. "I've told them if that's what you want me to do I'm completely fine, but I feel like I have more to offer. I obviously need to prove that to you to know and trust me.
Of course, Green's Padres are rarely dead-set against anything.
Before last July's trade, Kirby Yates got a handful of save opportunities after closer Brad Hand had pitched the eighth inning. Craig Stammen entered games anywhere between the fifth and ninth innings and Stammen, Hand, Yates, Robert Stock, Phil Maton, Robbie Erlin, Jose Castillo and Trey Wingenter were among Padres relievers who recorded at least four outs in an appearance.
Fellow newcomer Adam Warren will no doubt factor into both long and middle relief situations, too.
Wingenter and Gerardo Reyes also recorded four outs without allowing a hit.
Loup's 2018 season was interrupted by a forearm strain that prevented him from stretching out last summer with the Phillies, just like a similar injury limited him to 14 1/3 innings in 2016.
In fact, the veteran sinker-baller hadn't quite got back on track after that first forearm strain. He had a 3.11 ERA and 1.14 WHIP through his first four seasons in the majors and a 4.19 ERA and 1.51 WHIP in the last three.
The Padres first popped onto his radar during a visit last summer with the Phillies, when he noticed so many young pitchers throwing well. He was also eager to hear what pitching coach Darren Balsley and bullpen coach Doug Bochtler — chief tutors in Hand's transformation from waiver claim to two-time All-Star — might lend to his quest to return to form, whether it was getting his glove-side fastball back on point or any other ideas that come up this spring.
The Padres, too, found themselves looking to add to a bullpen that, even with rookies appearing in 252 games (third in the majors), amassed a franchise-best 8.8 WAR, trailing only the Yankees (9.7) last year.
The onus last year after the Hand trade, of course, was to see what their collection of young, power arms could do.
Now, with Manny Machado in the fold and the contention window opening, there's a greater need to have the ability to match-up throughout the course of a game.
Enter Loup, who was in talks to join the Padres' bullpen before Machado momentum picked up and ahead of injuries pulling Jose Castillo and Miguel Diaz from the mix. Left-hander Sammy Solis, in camp on a minor league deal, is also an option to face left-handed hitters should he make his way to San Diego, although the Padres may opt to use him differently than the Nationals did before his release earlier this month.
"If we're talking about winning baseball games," Bochtler said, "if we have a guy that's really good at (getting one out), let's add him to the mix. … Our focus is on winning baseball games — period. To have a deep bullpen like we had last year, we were pretty good last year and now we suddenly go out and the organization says we were really good but now we can be better, we want that aspect.