Clutch Victory Caps Off a Tough Stretch

The San Diego Padres ended their 26 games in 27 days with two series wins against the Kansas City Royals and the Washington Nationals. The pitching staff, along with some standout offensive efforts, gave them a 4-2 record and a season record of 44-36. They had slipped out of the Wild Card race last week but fought their way back into the last spot in the Wild Card standings, a half game ahead of the Giants and a half game behind Milwaukee.

Pitchers lead the way

Starter Nick Pivetta had two starts over the week, pitching 11.2 innings, allowing 9 hits and 4 earned runs with 13 strikeouts, winning the second game and a no decision the first game. Dylan Cease had another good start, throwing 6.2 innings with one run allowed and 4 strikeouts. Randy Vasquez went the deepest into a game he has as a Padre, throwing 7 innings with 5 hits and two runs allowed with 2 strikeouts. As usual, Vasquez induces soft contact and lets his defense work behind him.

The bullpen, managed through this stretch by pitching coach Ruben Niebla and manager Mike Shildt, ended on a really strong note. Relievers Jason Adam (2.2 IP, no runs), Jeremiah Estrada (3 IP, no runs), Bryan Hoeing (1.1 IP, no runs), Adrian Morejon ( 4.2 IP, no runs) and closer Robert Suarez (2 IP, no runs) combined for 13.2 shutout innings over 6 games. The bullpen ranks 4th in ERA for the season at 3.30, tied with Tampa Bay.

The pitching staff as a whole has a 3.59 ERA (9th) with the starters registering the 14th best ERA at 3.84. The concern for the amount of innings pitched remains with Jason Adam already having thrown 40.2 innings. Estrada has 36 innings and Morejon with 35.1 innings.

Offense continues to underachieve

The Padres offensive average of .248 ranks 13th in baseball for the season. Their OPS of .695 ranks 22nd in baseball for the season. Over the past week their average was .224 with an OPS of .654, 19th in baseball.

Manny Machado really cooled off, hitting .172 with a .640 OPS. He had two homers and two RBI. Luis Arraez led the week with a .400 average and a .800 OPS. He had only singles but had two RBI. Outfielder Bryce Johnson has had a good start, hitting .333 for the week and .417 overall since he came up to the major leagues. The RBI leader for the week is Fernando Tatis Jr with six. Bench specialist Jose Iglesias seems to come through when needed and won one game practically by himself. He has 4 RBI with 3 hits despite hitting just .200 over the 6 games.

Jake Cronenworth only hit .167 but had a homer with 3 RBI and ended with a .786 OPS. The leader in the clubhouse for OPS is Martin Maldonado, who hit .286 with a 1.089 OPS. He had two hits and an RBI with a homer in his 7 at bats. Tatis Jr ended with an average of .167 but hit two home runs in his 18 at bats with has six RBI with a .786 OPS.

It was obvious that something had to change and Shildt began some tinkering by shuffling the lineup order twice over the last week. In his Friday morning interview on 97.3 The Fan, Shildt told Ben and Woods that he felt his first four hitters were basically interchangeable at the top of the lineup and he could be making adjustments going forward based on matchups and how things are trending.

Roster changes and Injury updates

Outfielder Jason Heyward was designated for assignment on June 21 and released on June 24.

Reliever Bryan Hoeing was activated and called up from El Paso when Heyward was removed from the roster.

Reliever Sean Reynolds was sent down to El Paso on June 21 but recalled when Ryan Bergert was place on the IL on June 25.

Brandon Lockridge was optioned to El Paso when Jackson Merrill was activated from the concussion IL on June 22.

Closer Robert Suarez is serving a two-day suspension on Wednesday and Friday as a result of his appeal for hitting Shohei Ohtani. He was originally given a three-day suspension but it was reduced on his appeal.

Yu Darvish is progressing with his throwing program , pitching three innings on June 24 in a simulated game at Lake Elsinore. He threw 51 pitches against 14 batters with his fastball topping out at 94 mph. Mike Shildt stated he will throw a bullpen this week and then they will assess where he is and what is next.

Xander Bogaerts was held out of Wednesday’s game after sliding into home plate on Tuesday and jamming his left shoulder against the catcher’s knee. It is the same shoulder that was sore earlier this month and surgically repaired last season. He is in the Friday lineup against Cincinnati.

Ryan Bergert left his start on Tuesday after taking a line drive off his right forearm. He was placed on the 15-day IL(June 25) with a contusion on his arm and will miss at least one start.

Michael King is throwing at 105 feet from flat ground per Mike Shildt. He is not throwing with intensity but Shildt stated there is no discomfort and strength is improved.