“Padres-Chargers—Good–Bad–Ugly”

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What I saw, what I think.

PADRES…Manager Jayce Tingler likes to use the phrase “Own It”.  Well they do, this epic bottoming out of baseball we have seen in the last month.  No amount of inspirational speeches, adjectives or verbs, will fix this team now.

Call it an all time low, when a Rule 5-pitcher, a reliever, a journeyman minor leaguer, has to start and throws a no-hitter  in his first major league start, something not done since the 1953-Bobo Holloman of the St Louis Browns.

The team pitching has collapsed.  Yu Darvish is ailing and has not been the same pitcher since his hip issue 6-starts ago.  Blake Snell talks a good game, does not pitch a good game, and is a shadow of himself.  Chris Paddack has the oblique issue and those take time to heal.  Joe Musgrove is showing signs of fatigue.    Ryan Weathers has been overwhelmed, giving up 20-runs in his last 11-innings-3 starts.  The bullpen is worn out.

The hitting has cooled down again, which is part of baseball, and there is no one left to pick up Tommy Pham-Trent Grisham-a tired Manny Machado and a fatigued Jake Cronenworth..

Fernando Tatis will play and likely will need a shoulder harness but how long before he reinjures that dislocated shoulder, and we start using the word ‘chronic’ injury?

The failure to get a veteran starting pitcher will haunt AJ Preller if this team does not make the playoffs.  Haunting too will be the wasted currency, trading all those minor league pitching prospects, and Preller needs to be held accountable by ownership for that..

For all the things on his long resume, alot of people question why Larry Rothchild has been unable to rectify any of the issues with the myriad of pitchers the Padres have problems with.  Departed pitching coach Darren Balsley never had these issues did he?

Think about this, a team that has now lost 34-games to teams with .500 or losing records, including 7-losses to the horrific Diamondbacks, 8-losses to Colorado.  Just ahead 19-games still to played with the Giants-Dodgers and the bitter pill, they have to play 16-of their final 22-on the road.

Dark clouds on the horizon….the reality they might not even make the playoffs after a (34-19) start, a sub-500 team since, a pitching staff collapse and a siege of injuries.

Lots of people will ‘Own it’

CHARGERS….I saw things I liked in that opening NFL preseason win, the battle of the rookies as the Bolts beat the Rams.

SoFi Stadium rocked, over 68,000-mostly Rams fans there, first time fans allowed in the building.  Now next week it will be a Chargers home game with the 49ers, and it will be interesting to see if they draw 30,000.

Chase Daniel started in place of star QB-Justin Herbert and was razor sharp on an impressive 21-play drive to start the game.  But let’s keep in mind, this was a 12-year veteran quarterback playing against backups and rookies so he should have made some plays..

Rashawn Slater was spectacular at LT for the Bolts, everything they said he was.  A rookie, with tremendous feet, great wingspan, mobility, toughness and smarts.  And he has done the same in practice against the likes of Joey Bosa.  What a gift.

Dru Tranquill is back at LB and was really active with Kyzer White and Uchenna Nwosu.  Kenneth Murray will join them soon and that group could be really good.

What really stood out was the team speed on defense, they were flying.

CB-Asante Samuel had 2-pass deflections
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K-Tristan Vizcaino hit 2-more field goals and will likely take the job from Michael Badgley.

The special teams were horrid.  Pick your poison..12 on field one play…10-on field another player…a delay of game penalty.  They allowed kick returns of 46-29-20 and punt returns of 21 and 14.  Rookies did all that, and they need lots of work.

John Brannon had a pick..Chris Covington and Forrest Merrill had big tackles for losses upfront.

Larry Rountree ran with power and explosiveness on his 26-and-30 yard runs.  Darius Bradwell had 2-inside power runs.

WR-Josh Palmer caught 6-passes in the first half, running precise routes., showing toughness in traffic, and holding onto the ball.

Granted it was rookies-vs-rookies, but the Chargers have lots of young talent there.  Whether they can play this well when it is opening day against NFL pro bowlers and stars, remains to be seen.

The CBS8-broadcast was horrible, beset by audio problems that ruined the Spero Dedes-Dan Fouts led broadcast.  They did not solve the audio problems until there were 7-minutes left in the fourth quarter.  A broadcast embarrassment.

So was Ladanian Tomlinson’s broadcast performance.  He is not an interviewer.  More cheerleader than broadcaster.  Still a bad taste he is a sellout to the long loyal fans in San Diego.

And how about the Chargers ‘hawking’ season tickets for as low at 65-dollars a game in the new Stadium.  In a new stadium, in the 2nd largest market in the country.  Some things never change about Team Spanos.

Monday is a new day, but the Padres problems will still exist and the Chargers credibility problems in the LA market still seem to be there.

Good-bad-ugly.  That’s what I saw.

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