The Padres will again have a full bullpen.

Better than a full bullpen, actually.

With right-hander Robert Suarez returning from his two-game suspension and the Padres not needing a fifth starter until the Philadelphia series, the Padres will have nine relievers in the bullpen for Saturday’s 1:10 p.m. start on Padres.TV.

The Padres (44-37, 3rd in NL West) used three relievers after Dylan Cease’s exit after four innings on Friday, with Yuki Matsui (4 ER) and Sean Reynolds (0 ER) each covering a frame and David Morgan (0 ER) throwing two innings.

Given Thursday’s off-day, the Padres have six relievers who have been off at least two days in a row. Suarez, for instance, last pitched on Tuesday before starting a suspension for hitting Shohei Ohtani with a pitch.

The Padres have not announced who will take Ryan Bergert’s turn in the rotation in Philadelphia — or what day — but knuckleballer Matt Waldron’s scheduled start with Triple-A El Paso on Thursday was rained out and he did not pitch in either end of Friday’s doubleheader. Kyle Hart is scheduled to start Saturday, while the Chihuahuas current have TBA listed for Sunday.

Shortstop Xander Bogaerts is in Saturday’s lineup for a second day in a row following his scratch from Wednesday’s game with a sore left shoulder. He’ll bat fifth as left fielder Gavin Sheets is dropped a spot in the order against Reds left-hander Andrew Abbott.

The new-look top four in the order — Luis Arraez, Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr. — is in place again as the Padres look to get something going offensively.

The Padres, however, have scored just two runs with that top-four so far, winning 1-0 on Wednesday and losing 8-1 on Friday after not collecting any hits until the ninth inning.

Arraez will serve as the DH, Jake Cronenworth will play first base and Jose Iglesias is in the lineup at second base and in the seven-hole, ahead of Cronenworth.

Catcher Martín Maldonado will bat ninth.

Here is how the Reds (43-39, 4th in NL Central) will line up in Game 2:

 

Saturday’s pitching matchup

Padres RHP Randy Vásquez (3-4, 3.60 ERA)

He’s coming off a career-high seven innings in his last start, a no-decision that set up the Padres for a third win in his five starts this month (3.65 ERA). Vásquez has a 4.14 ERA in eight starts this year away from Petco Park. This will be Vásquez’s first career appearance against the Reds and at Great American Ball Park.

He also doesn’t have any history with current Reds.

Reds LHP Andrew Abbott (7-1, 1.79 ERA)

His 2.28 June ERA is up from a sparkling May (0.55 ERA) and he’s been nearly as good at hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park (2.17 ERA) than he has been on the road (1.42 ERA). Abbott has struck out 14 batters across 14⅔ innings across two starts in his career against the Padres, although he struck out 12 in 7⅔ innings in 2023 and just two in seven shutout innings last year.

Here is how Abbott has fared against current Padres: