Patience or panic in 5 key areas
This story was excerpted from AJ Cassavell’s Padres Beat publication. To learn the complete publication, click on right here. And subscribe to get it repeatedly in your inbox.
With 1 / 4 of the season gone, there is no getting round it: The Padres have not lived as much as their lofty expectations.
There are myriad causes behind the workforce’s early-season struggles, every with various levels of concern. So let’s play a recreation I name “Patience or Panic?” What’s the extent of concern in 5 key areas of the Padres’ struggles?
At some level, this has to show. The Padres are at the moment at a historic low with males in scoring place. Their .198 RISP common is the bottom for any workforce in recorded historical past — spanning at the very least 80 years’ price of information.
I say this confidently: This group of hitters is just too good for these points to proceed at their present degree.
That doesn’t suggest there aren’t overarching points offensively. Projected to have one of many sport’s finest offenses, the Padres are at the moment a bottom-10 offense total.
“These guys have performed well before, and they’re going to again,” supervisor Bob Melvin mentioned after a weekend sweep in Los Angeles. “We have to remain in that mindset, get back home and regroup.”
One necessary caveat for the bullpen’s struggles: Because of the offense’s underperformance, this aid corps has been taxed. When each recreation is low scoring, the margin for error is skinny, and the identical high-leverage guys get used rather a lot.
“Offensively, we need to take the pressure off these guys coming in the game late to have to be perfect,” Melvin mentioned. “You quit a run, two runs — that is going to occur every so often. But when it prices you the sport … that is what stands out.”
The Padres’ bullpen is best than current outcomes would point out. But it is nonetheless nowhere close to the extent it reached final October. This group sorely misses set-up man Robert Suarez, who signed a five-year contract through the offseason however has but to renew throwing as he offers with elbow bother. Meanwhile, Drew Pomeranz‘s path towards a return continues to hit snags, whereas Adrian Morejon and Nabil Crismatt stay injured as nicely.
Concern degree: Low to medium
The most evident flaw on the Padres’ roster coming into the season — and it’s been worse than anticipated. Luis Campusano underwent surgical procedure to restore a ligament in his left thumb on Friday. The Padres have been banking on a breakthrough season for Campusano. Now he’s out till someday across the All-Star break.
Meanwhile, Austin Nola has struggled mightily, with a .460 OPS. He’s ceded some enjoying time to Brett Sullivan, a 29-year-old journeyman, who is sort of definitely not the long-term repair. Beyond these two, the depth is skinny.
That leaves the Padres with a evident want behind the plate. Among different efforts, they made a push to signal Christian Vázquez and commerce for Sean Murphy through the offseason, based on sources, however nothing got here to fruition. Now, the Padres head into commerce season with a significant want — and no apparent out there solutions.
Machado’s tenure in San Diego has been outlined by his reliability. Through numerous Padres ups and downs, Machado has been a gradual presence. It’s why they have been so assured in giving him an 11-year extension.
This season, nevertheless, he’s hitting simply .232/.280/.374 in 39 video games. There are different gamers off to sluggish begins — notably Jake Cronenworth, Ha-Seong Kim and Nola. But it’s Machado in the course of this lineup, anticipated to offer extra thump than what he’s supplied.
“At the end of the year, things will be a little bit different,” Machado mentioned. “We’ve just got to keep fighting through it. … Things will turn.”
Here’s guessing Machado figures it out. He has an extended observe file, and the standard of his contact has been higher currently. In the meantime, he’ll proceed enjoying Gold Glove-caliber protection.
The Padres aren’t the one workforce off to a sluggish begin. Far from it. Various presumed contenders have struggled over the season’s first month and a half. The Padres’ predicament is nowhere close to as dire as what the Cardinals are dealing with. The Phillies and Mets have struggled as nicely. San Diego’s sluggish begin has hardly broken its playoff ambitions.
But this workforce wasn’t constructed merely to achieve the playoffs. This workforce was constructed to contend for a division title, an NL pennant and the franchise’s first World Series title. Accomplishing the primary of these targets would give the Padres the perfect path towards carrying out the opposite two.
Yet the NL West hole has already grown to seven video games. In one regard, the Padres have loads of time to place themselves in place for an October run. In one other, they’re already dealing with an uphill climb this summer time.
