“Padres–What I See”

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Padres baseball.

Good pitching beats good hitting.  But it doesn’t seem that way right now.

Padres baseball.

Maybe they are not as good as we thought they were.

For all the excitement with the start of the season, all the hype about what was on the roster, the brilliant pitching we have seen, and the arrival of the ‘Swag Chain’, we’re not seeing good baseball right now.

The Padres are on their way out of town again, destination Citi Field, to face the New York Mets beginning Friday

The Padres are near the top of virtually every stat category in pitching.  Starters ERA…Relievers ERA…Saves…Opponents Batting Average.

But on the other side of the ledger is the reality, if you don’t hit,you don’t score, and if you can plate runs, you can’t win.  They are buried at the bottom in virtually all the offensive metrics baseball lives with.

So we sit here now with a team in a tailspin.

The Padres record may read (37-27) and yes they are in a dog fight with the Dodgers and Giants.

The Friars head into Citi Field having lost 8-of-11 and 9-of-14.

The metrics are awful.  Last in team batting average (.232).  Last in runs scored,  buried in average with runners in scoring position….down the ladder in home runs and slugging percentage too.

Yes there is still two thirds of a season, nearly 100-games left to be played.
But have you seen any indication this batting order can get hot, stay hot, and support this pitching staff, before the arms run out of gas.

Take a look-see.

Fernando Tatis, playing thru injuries and covid, remains a dangerous hitter, but it’s  like a one man gang.  For all the home runs, he is hitting just (.240) over the last three weeks, his second drought of the season.

Manny Machado is earning big money, and right now has the worst average of his career (.236).  Strong defense, an occasional home run, but earning his kind of money, he should be a terror in the middle of the lineup.

Jake Cronenworth has been a rock the last two years, but he looks worn out, is getting pitched around and is hitting (.171) in this (12-for-70) drought.

Wil Myers is vinrage Wil Myers.  The average is at (.240) and he’s had more disappointing seasons than he has had good seasons.  Enigma.

Tommy Pham has been a disappointment two years running.  For what he is being paid, you’d want more than a (.224) batting average.  An odd set of stats, 38-walks, 38-hits and 43-strikeouts.  Maybe we now know why the Cardinals and Rays moved him in deals.

Eric Hosmer is solid, but for that pricetag, wouldn’t you expect more than (.263) from a singles hitter.

Jurickson Profar’s superb season last year is in the mirror.  This year
he’s at (.233) and not the player of last year, more like the rest of his career at other stops..

Utilityman Jorge Mateo is on the bench with a (.205) mark.

Aside from Trent Grisham’s (.301) mark prior to the stint on DL, where are the hits, where are the runs coming from, going to come from?

The catchers this year, are equal to last year’s Austin Hedges, hitting anywhere in the low (.200s)

It’s not a pretty picture.  all this great pitching, wasted by erratic run support.

I had hoped this would be a 93-win season, but now I have serious doubts.

If they don’t start hitting, there might not be a way to improve the team.  Last check, AAA-El Paso was staggering with an (11-18) record in AAA, with a roster made up of more journeyman than true prospects.

They might not have the resources to make a difference in  making a trade, having already dealt away 27-prospects in the past three years.

The solution may have to come from within, but where and how, with guys who have deficiencies.

Hot weather coming, maybe the Padres get hot, but then again, maybe not.

Good pitching beats good hitting.

No hitting means you lose a bunch.

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