-0-

“Padres Baseball-Getting There Isn’t Easy”

-0-

They were in first place for a couple of weeks, and that was pretty cool.

We have seen some pretty impressive plays at shortstop and third base. Thank you Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis.

Some long distance home runs from Franmil Reyes, and the second highest home run total for April in the Padres 50-year history.

So now, with the Dodges coming to town, we have settled in to watch this team grow.

The quick start they had, (11-5), has been replaced by a (6-9) stretch.

Tatis is hurt. Wil Myers is striking out at alarming rate. We fear fatigue will set in with the kid pitchers.

The team isn’t hitting much. The kid pitchers have really battled. The bullpen has been pretty good.

Some comments about what I’ve seen as April has turned into May

KIDS DAY AT THE PARK….MLBs youngest rotation has pitched pretty well. Yes the ERAs are a bit high, thanks to an odd bad inning or so, but all in all, Eric Lauer, Joey Lucchesi, Chris Paddack, Nick Margavicisus, and now Cal Quantrill, have all pitched well.

The sum total of the 5-starters, a record of (9-10), not bad for a rotation with an average age of (23Y). The fivesome has a combined (3.78-ERA)..again, very impressive.

Paddack could be a rookie of the year candidate, with his (1.91-ERA). Margavicius (3.23-ERA) has been really competitive. Much has been expected from the Lauer-Lucchesi combo, but their ERA’s are high (4.41-4.94).

Of big concern, in 31-games this year, Andy Green has used his top relievers Kirby Yates and Craig Stammen a combined 31-times, and has gone to the bullpen 101-times in those 31-games.

Protecting the young starting pitchers arms is important.

BAD BATS…..It’s early in the season, but this team is still not hitting. Lots of games to play, but I would have expected more from proven veterans. No yet though.

I wonder how long this will go, and how long the fans will accept what they are seeing in the batting order.

Eric Hosmer (.248). Manny Machado (.236) Wil Myers (.248). Manny Margot (.253)..Hunter Renfro (.223)…Franmil Reyes (240)..Austin Hedges (.175)…Francisco Mejia (.146)….Greg Garcia (.214)….Luis Urias (.083).

We thought we’d need patience dealing with the young pitching. Instead, we may need to show patience with a substandard batting order.

Here come the first place Dodgers. Here are the young Padres, surely playing better than last year’s (66-96) mess, but not very consistent yet.

Padres fans, Home Depot has 50-pound bags of patience on sale this weekend. Might need to buy a couple of bags for the summer baseball season.

==================

Please follow and like us: