“Winners-Losers-Questions:

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Here-There-Everywhere

PADRES…The misery continues as the Padres lose 2-of-3 to the Phillies.  They ,now officially no longer hold a wildcard spot in the standings, trailing the Cincinnati Reds now by a game.  And just ahead the beginning of this 19-game stretch of games against the Giants and Dodgers.

They’re not hitting, aside from 1-Jake Cronenworth home run swing on Saturday  They have lost 9-of-11.  Dropped 25-of-44 games.  Remember that (34-19) start?  Been replaced by a (34-39) skid.  They have lost 17-games to the lowly Colorado Rockies and the last place Arizona Diamondbacks.  Add to that 37-losses to teams that are .500-or worse.

In this 11-skid, the team is hitting (.219) and hitting (.181) with runners in scoring position.

Manny Machado looks fatigued and out of focus at the plate.
Fernando Tatis looks challenged in the outfield and has tailed off too at bat.
Jake Cronenworth has cooled off.
Trent Grisham is not hitting.
Tommy Pham has reverted back to his early season woes, strikeouts and more.

They seem to have a numbers game problem, how do they play Adam Frazier, where do they play him, and can they get him hot again, hitting in the .250s after coming here from the Pirates with a .328-average.

Can you tell me any starter you trust aside from Joe Musgrove?

Blake Snell has proven he is durable, he throws alot of pitches, but has had very few really quality starts this season.

Yu Darvish has not pitched well since injuring his back and hip  And he still seems a week or so away from getting a start and the question then what?

Dinelson Lamet may be limited to 1-inning appearances  out of the bullpen, but can he hold up?

Ryan Weathers is officially overwhelmed, these stats over the last five games are staggering , 17-innings 28-runs  35-hits and all those 9- home runs.  And they keep sending him out there to pitch.

The bullpen has run out of gas with the workload on Craig Stammen, Tim Hill  and Mark Melancon about to collapse.

Find me anything to be positive about, and I will tell you you must be related to the the Padres front office or their broadcast crew.

This is an epic collapse, and if they do not make it to the playoffs, it will be the worst moment in franchise history.

CHARGERS….This the summer of the great unknowns, as new coach Brandon Staley has refused to play virtually all of his star players, trying to protect them from injury.

But the big issue will be when it comes time for ‘live fire’ action, none of the 4-new offensive line stars will have played in actual game action infront of QB sensation Justin Herbert.

And injuries have kept right tackle Bryan Bulaga out of practice, and 1st round pick,left tackle Rashawn Slater has played 1-series so far before back issues flared.

And virtually all the backups, who have played alot, have played poorly  as witnessed by the Sunday night game with the 49ers, when QB-Easton Stick took 3-sacks, 6-hits and was pressured out of the pocket 7-times.  Stick was impressive under fire and looks like he belongs on the field

There is team speed on defense, but the two Chargers interceptions on Sunday were when wide open receivers dropped passes that fell into the hands of the Chargers DBs.  The secondary has lots of speed, but how much experience is really back there to defend, when the real season starts against Pro Bowl players.

Oh it was ugly preseason football for sure…5-sacks allowed…10-tackles for losses for the Niners..an interception and 15-pressures and 12-Bolt penalties.  That was not good.

The Chargers had 15-players out of practice this week, with a bunch of nagging injuries too..

There are just so many questions to be anwered when the season starts with this roster.  I am just not convinced this is the complete package the national media is making this team out to be, especially in a division with the Chiefs-Gruden and the Raiders, and a vastly improved Broncos QB situation.

Wish I could feel good about the Padres, but I haven’t seen anything to feel good about since early June.

Wish I could be optimistic that Justin Herbert will have a banner season for the Chargers, but this offensive line situation worries, as does the complexity of all the new systems they have put in place for this roster.

See me in a couple of weeks and we will see if there are any new answers to my questions and concerns.

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