Padres Face Critical Stretch of Schedule That Could Shape Their Season
The San Diego Padres’ nine-game road trip that continues their offensive troubles and their starting pitchers’ woes ends and they face the most challenging part of the season. After a 4-5 road trip, flying home from Texas, the next 13 games will be against teams with winning records. The first two series, against the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers, will be against the two teams with the greatest records in baseball.
After those six games, with an off day between series, the Padres go to Chicago to play the Cubs, who are three games over .500 and third in the Central Division. They head home for another four-game set against the Dodgers with no day off.
Offense improved
Individually, the Padres are starting to show some flashes of life even if they are still near the bottom of baseball in all batting averages.
Manny Machado has improved his average to.179 with a.625 OPS and has 13 home runs with 41 RBI. Machado is hitting .211 with an OPS of .747 over the past week with a home run and two doubles.
Jackson Merrill is hitting .318 with a .818 OPS in the last week and has an HR and double. He’s hitting .216 with a .636 OPS overall. Merrill has 8 homers, 31 RBI. He has 15 stolen bases, caught once.
Fernando Tatis Jr. is batting .285 with a .777 OPS with three doubles in the last week. Tatis is hitting .285/.707 overall. He has 13 doubles, a triple and 18 stolen bases but has been caught eight times with two home runs and 26 RBI.
Ty France, who was red hot earlier, has cooled off, but the top of the order has started hitting better. France is batting .156 with a .604 OPS the past two weeks. His total average has fallen to .252 with a .772 OPS.
The Padres designated Nick Castellanos for assignment and recalled outfielder Samad Taylor. Taylor is hitting .370 with a .888 OPS since his call-up. He had a double, a home run, eight RBI and four stolen bases, with no times getting caught. “It’s depressing to think where the team would be without him.
DH Miguel Andujar was reinstated from the injured list before the final game in Texas, while Nick Solak was designated for assignment. That leaves five players recently recalled from Triple-A El Paso on the Padres’ 26-man roster.
The reinforcements will be here awhile longer
Catchers Luis Campusano and Freddy Fermin are both on the IL, therefore both Rodolfo Durán and Blake Hunt will be with the team until Fermin comes off the concussion list.There is no timeline for Jake Cronenworth to return.Ramon Laureano is probably done for the season. The Padres designated Bryce Johnson for assignment. Jase Bowen is now the fourth outfielder.
Starters are a big problem
Padres pitching staff is 10th in MLB with a 3.92 ERA. The bullpen is mostly to blame for a 3.04 ERA, second to the Braves at 2.87. The starting staff, aided by the strong work of openers Bradgley Rodriguez and Wandy Peralta, ranks 26th with a 4.64 ERA.
Michael King has the best ERA of the starters at 3.60 but he hasn’t been overly effective with his command in his last three appearances. His greatest effort came June 10 against the Reds, when he went 6 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits and three runs. In 17 innings pitched, he has a 5.29 ERA with 10 earned runs given up total.
Walker Buehler is the best starting pitcher in that time. Buehler has given up three earned runs over his last 14 2/3 innings. His 1.90 ERA has dropped his season ERA to 3.96.
Randy Vásquez had a solid start to the season with a little more velocity on his fastball, and an ERA under 4.00 in April and May. Vasquez hasn’t recorded an out in the fifth inning this June, allowing 14 earned runs in 17.1 innings thrown for a 7.36 ERA for the month.
Griffin Canning came off the injured list and joined the Padres on May 3. He made six starts in May, threw 27 2/3 innings and had an ERA of 7.16. Canning will get three starts in June, including an opener in his final game versus St. Louis. He’s pitched 14.1 innings with nine earned runs and a 5.74 ERA.
Lucas Giolito didn’t sign with the Padres until April 22, traveling to Low-A Lake Elsinore and Double-A San Antonio for his build-up before joining the team May 17. In May, he made three starts and posted a 4.97 ERA in 12.2 innings thrown. He has made four starts in June, two of them as an opener, and has a 4.15 ERA in 13 innings pitched.
Both Canning and Giolito have had length issues. Canning has gone more than five innings once and Giolito has finished five innings three times.
Limited depth
The Padres have two pitchers in El Paso who could be called up in the near future to boost the rotation and the bullpen. Germán Márquez and Jhony Brito have both begun for the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas with Brito completing his recovery. Márquez has made four starts and 15.1 innings with three earned runs allowed and is still on a rehab assignment.
Brito has made two starts since coming off his rehab and has nine innings pitched, allowing two earned runs. He might start or be a long reliever out of the bullpen.
The Padres still have 13 games left against teams with winning records, including the two best clubs in baseball, and they will need to shore up their pitching problems and continue to progress offensively.
The Friars would normally have home-field advantage, but they are only playing.500 at Petco Park, and the Dodgers have always played well there. It would be a nice way to start this long stretch (13 games in 14 days) against teams who have been hot lately with a series win against the Braves, especially with the Padres struggling to a 7-11 mark in June.
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