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BASEBALL’S CALENDAR-JUNE”
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June 1st is the demarcation line for alot of things.
For kids, the start of summer vacation.
For the NBA..time to head to the Champiohship round
For the NHL..Stanley Cup time
For Baseball, it’s the beginning of the real pennant race, as we march towards the midway point of the schedule.
Some candid comments on what we have seen:
PADRES..My biggest fear is about to be realized, not enough pitching, key guys hurt and an unforgiving schedule about to begin. The Friars, on Friday, begin a stretch when they play 26-games in the next 27-days. In the bigger picture, they have 32-games in a 34-day span. And as the calendar turns to June, they play 22-road games in this month. Goodbye Pirates-Marlins-Rockies and the woeful teams on the schedule. Hello multiple series with the Dodgers, Giants-Diamondbacks, Mets and more
What makes it hard is the lack of starting pitching. Hard enough knowing there is no Joe Musgrove this year. There has been no Yu Darvish yet and who knows how long he can hold up. Now Michael King has a mysterious scapula-shoulder blade issue. Matt Waldon may be doing rehab starts in far away San Antonio. Kyle Hart, found wanting in his first group of starts, has been brought back from El Paso, only because there is no one else to callup. They keep sending Randy Vasquez out, and good starts are off set by bad innings.
Yes Nick Pivetta and Dylan Cease have gone out as warriors and had more good starts than bad, but how longer can that keep up? And the bullpen has done yeoman’s work, but is there not a burnout factor attached to that usage.
Yes the DODGERS have been front and center, having put 16-pitchers on the disabled list this first half of the season, and they too are stressed out, with little left at Oklahoma City to call up. But some of their injured arms, Clayton Kershaw and Tony Gonsolin are back, and Shohei Ohtani seems a month away from returning and Bobby Miller and Landon Knack may bail them out in the interim.
Of course the trade market might net these two teams some rental help, but there’s an issue there too.
The Dodgers have no limit about how much salary to take on. Hell, they just ate some 16M-in salaries in releasing Chris Taylor and Austin Barnes, so taking on a rental hurler will not be an issue, for money is no object due to Dodger Dollars.
The Padres seem pinned against a financial wall from a payroll standpoint. Can they afford to take on a half year salary to rent, say a Tyler Anderson or Kyle Hendricks of the Angels? And who would AJ Preller trade away to get a rental starter, considering the farm system is threadbare.
Yes June 1st is the demarcation date to see who is a pennant contender or pretender in the fight for first place. It’s also the date we find out who has the health to make a pennant run, and who has the resources to go get a deal done.
Tough games on schedule, and tough decisions ahead too.
Circle it on your calendar Dodgers-Padres fans.
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