One of the San Diego Padres’ biggest postseason disappointments was losing newly acquired Mike Clevinger for most of their playoff run. Now they won’t have him in 2021 either.

Doctors performed Tommy John surgery on his right elbow this week, which will force the right-hander to miss all of next season, according to MLB.com.

That made the news that the team will retain Clevinger bittersweet. The former Cleveland Indian signed a two-year, $11.5 million contract to remain a Padre.

Clevinger left a game Sept. 23 with what the team described as “biceps tightness.” He took the mound against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series, but had to depart in the second inning.

According to MLB, he had the surgery Tuesday in Cincinnati. He tweeted an upbeat pic from his hospital bed.

“Everybody was in agreement that, rather than try and piece it together and get through the next season, I think he felt like, ‘I want to go ahead and get this taken care of, have the procedure, and push toward the 2022 season,’” general manager A.J. Preller told MLB.com.

The Padres acquired Clevinger at the Aug. 31 trade deadline, after a flurry of trades that made a statement about their serious approach to their playoff push.

The team, however, lost Clevinger for most of the playoffs and Dinelson Lamet for all of the postseason. They made it to the Division Series, where the Dodgers swept them on the way to winning the World Series.

– Staff reports