Good morning,
The Padres aren’t hitting. That really isn’t too far from a literal statement.
They are not scoring. That’s even closer to being literal.
They’re hitting .173 with a .253 on-base percentage over the last five games. They have scored in one of the last 30 innings and five of the last 43 innings. That represents eight runs in five games.
This comes on the heels of scoring at least five runs in eight straight games. It also comes as they have won nine of those 13 games.
They are 19-11, which is tied for the second-best 30-game start in franchise history.
So while there is something akin to widespread panic outside the clubhouse, that’s not the case inside.
“Honestly, I don’t think we feel too much (pressure) because we’ve been winning games,” Eric Hosmer said.
Now, certainly, there is a level of concern within the organization. Everyone knows that this lack of production cannot continue. And whatever faith decision makers have expressed that some players will start hitting sooner rather than later, a move will have to be made at some point if they’re not correct.
But it’s not like the Fathers didn’t see some of this coming. They’ve been pretty upfront about knowing they were going to have some offensive shortcomings.
They had Wil Myers healthy for five games. They have yet to have a healthy Luke Voit. Oh, and a guy named Fernando Tatis Jr. won’t appear on the plate until at least mid-June.
So let’s reckon with the current version of the Padres’ offense as less than a gigantic problem and more than a problem.
Whether anyone watching wants to acknowledge it or not, what Jake Cronenworth and others said last night is true.
“We’ve faced some really, really good pitches,” Cronenworth said, quoted in my history of the game (here).
The Marlins, against whom the Padres totaled eight runs by winning three of four games, have a pitching staff that ranks seventh in the major leagues in ERA. The Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks, who shut out the Padres for 8 2/3 innings last night, is a crafty 32-year-old pitcher who pitches differently from virtually every other man who stands on a major league mound these days.
“It’s tough when you’re facing a guy who just goes and feels like everything he’s throwing you’re hitting and missing or fouling,” Cronenworth said. “And you’re missing with 89 mph fastballs. You think you’re into it, but he keeps you off balance.”
Look, somehow the Pirates and Brewers scored six runs against Hendricks last month, and the White Sox scored four in Hendricks’ most recent start before last night. But when he’s splashing where he wants, it’s tough.
Hendricks was one out shy of his seventh complete game since 2015. Only nine pitchers have seven complete games since 2015.
We have spent thousands of words on this offense in the last few days alone.
It’s enough for now.
More blood?
MacKenzie Gore will throw a lot more innings for the Padres this season.
It could come after a stint in the minor leagues.
“I guess it’s a possibility,” Gore said last night. “I don’t know. If I get the ball again, I’ll do my best to give us a chance to win.”
That seems safe. He showed even more promise last night, even though it was as clear as ever that he has work to do.
Gore suffered his first loss and allowed nearly as many runs (three) last night as his first four starts combined (four).
The Cubs clearly had the book on the rookie left-hander, who entered the game throwing his fastball nearly 69 percent of the time. That was more than any starter in the major leagues who has pitched at least 20 innings. He threw 76 of them in his 100 pitches in his start Wednesday at Cleveland.
“I’ve thrown a lot of fastballs,” Gore said. “I threw a lot of fastballs last outing, so they were ready to hit fastballs.”
Gore threw 53 fastballs among his 89 pitches last night. That 59.6 percent rate was just above his season low. What the Cubs did, though, was go after the pitch. And they were more successful than anyone else, getting five hits in 15 at-bats that ended in a fastball after opponents hit .175 against pitch in Gore’s first four starts.
Especially in his middle innings, Gore mixed up his offerings quite a bit. Where his slider had been his most relied on breaking ball previously, he threw his curveball more last night. However, it was the change that was the best version of him thus far.
He had four misses on seven swings and used the changeup masterfully to set up a pair of strikeouts that ended in a fastball. His fastball average of 95.6 mph was higher than in his last start and just below his season high of 95.7 in his debut.
While the final numbers were the worst of the season, there was plenty to argue that he did what he has done in every start: progress.
The Padres say they haven’t decided what to do with their rotation yet.
They still want to see what Mike Clevinger does today in his second start back from Tommy John surgery. Nick Martinez starts on Wednesday. The Padres have Thursday off. Yu Davrish, Sean Manaea and Joe Musgrove are expected to start all three games in Atlanta.
The indications are that Snell, who is making what is expected to be his last rehab start tonight in El Paso, will start Tuesday against the Phillies.
Later? The team’s decision makers seem open to anything, including at least temporarily moving any number of starters to the bullpen.
Remember, Friday starts a streak of nine straight games. A day off after that is followed by 13 games in a row. Then another day off is followed by 18 games in 17 days.
The Padres have made their starters work pretty hard. If Gore is eliminated, he probably won’t be pitching much in the minors and it won’t be long before he returns.
little things
- The Padres had gone seven games without making an error before one charged Cronenworth last night. The error on a bounced shot could easily have come from Hosmer, who opted to try to get the ball behind the bag instead of stretching and the ball was brought down when Willson Contreras went through Hosmer’s glove. The play was ruled an infield single with Contreras taking second on error when the ball went away from Hosmer and into foul territory. Entering last night, Hosmer was tied for the major league lead among first basemen in above-average outs (four) and runs avoided (three).
- Manny Machado’s single in the seventh inning extended his on-base streak to 19 games. He has four such streaks of 20 games or more with a career-high 33 games in 2018.
- Cronenworth’s ninth-inning walk extended his on-base streak to 15 games, tying a career high.
- That walk was the only walk of the night for the Padres, who still have nine more walks this season than any other team.
- Ha-seong Kim hit .271 with a .926 OPS in 55 plate appearances in April. He is hitting .077 with a .341 OPS in 31 plate appearances this month.
- Dinelson Lamet has allowed at least one run or allowed a legacy running back to score in eight of his 10 appearances this season. That includes a two-run eighth inning last night.
Alright, that’s it for me. Nothing more to say about what was mostly a replay.
Talk to you tomorrow.
Reference-www.sandiegouniontribune.com