What can be said after a night like tonight for the Padres? Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you. Tonight the Friars were completely devoured 11-0. To add insult to injury, or injury to insult in this case, Yonder Alonso had to remove himself from the game after jamming his throwing shoulder (yes the same one that was recently injured after being hit by a pitch on Sunday causing him to miss two games) on a diving play in the 8th. The Padres hope to know more about the severity of the injury tomorrow.
Ineffective starting pitching was the culprit tonight. Despaigne simply had very little in his arsenal to go to and the D’Backs took advantage. Unlike last year when he relied almost exclusively on his breaking stuff to keep opposing batters off balance, his early success this season has been thanks to aggressive use and better command of his fastball. The different arm angles have still been a useful element of his deception, but the increased fastball usage has both caught hitters generally off guard, and given him more margin for error when the off speed is used.
Quite simply, tonight the fastball command was not there. Too many offerings that were intended to be down and away ended up out over the dish and in to the danger zone. Before the Pads could blink it was 4-0, and 6-0 by the end of the 3rd.
With that kind of a lead, all AZ starter, De La Rosa, needed to do was throw strikes and for the most part he did. 95-96 MPH fastballs were complimented with sliders and hard downward diving changeups. Runners were in scoring position in three of the first four innings for the Pads, but served only as a tease to get back into the game as all were stranded. After the fourth inning it turned into a lock down as the last 16 Friar batters were retired in order.
With the recent troubles the team has experienced lately I’m frequently asked to try to explain what’s going on. Yes, the team has lost 10 of their last 15 games. Yes, the shutouts they’ve suffered in their last three loses are unexpected. Yes, the bullpen has been surprisingly porous at times. Yes, the starting rotation has not been as dominant as anticipated. Yes, the defense has given away 16 unearned runs (tied for second most in the N.L.). Yes…all this is true. However, let’s look at it all from another angle.
- The offense: Even after being shutout in 3 of the last 4 games, it still leads the entire N.L. in runs scored. Is this a dramatic turnaround from last year? You bet! Like any offense there will be ebbs and flows in production, but it has already proven that it can be potent when it counts with the second best avg. in the N.L. with runners in scoring position. Still haven’t all hit their stride, and yet leading the N.L. in runs – not too bad.
- The bullpen: No question it has had moments of struggles. However, the team is still 9-1 in games it has lead after the 6th inning, and if you take away the disastrous 3 game series against the Astros where they allowed 19 earned runs in 3 games the ‘pen ERA is 2.95 for the remainder of the season.
- The rotation: Expectations for the starting 5 are understandably high. The 3.51 ERA currently ranks 5th in the N.L. Even with not all five hitting their full stride yet they still have more quality starts (20), than any other rotation in MLB.
- The defense: Of the 22 errors committed 4 have been by pitchers, and alonso made a couple of uncharacteristic rush errors. Norris has been surprisingly better at throwing out runners than anyone expected. Point is although it has been undeniably costly, and no one expects the defense to be a team strength overall, there is reason to believe that the errors should be reduced by some of the early transgressors, and Norris has been much better with the running game than anticipated.
- 15-15 record: The team despite not hitting on all cylinders yet is still playing .500 ball, only 4 back of the Dodgers. There are a lot of good things happening with this team as it works to find itself. We knew there was going to be an adjustment period while all these new players learn how to play together as a team. There will be periods where the pitching doesn’t support the hitting and vice versa while this new group jells. It’s part of the process, as painful as it may be during some stretches.
No one is satisfied with the team playing .500 ball. Everyone involved with this club knows this group is capable of doing more, and anticipates that they eventually will. As a former player, when a team I was a part of was playing below its capability all I wanted us to do was to stay close to the leaders until things turned around. Just stay within striking distance until the storm passed. The Pads are doing that so far, and surviving this rough period while still staying close. Then when things turn around, look out!
Hopefully the fellas start to kick it in as a unit starting tomorrow with James Shields on the mound. First pitch is at 6:40. Look forward to you joining Uncle Teddy and me for the call on the Mighty 1090.
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