The San Diego Padres clinched a playoff berth with their extra-inning victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday Sept. 22. Catcher Freddy Fermin hit a walk-off single to drive in the winning run and
rookie reliever Bradgley Rodriguez got his first professional win to guarantee the Friars a postseason series.
The team received a huge blow with the announcement after the Brewers series that outfielder Ramón Laureano broke his right index finger during an at-bat and will be out through the first playoff series, at least. Laureano, arguably the best player on the squad since the trade deadline, will probably have to play through pain if he plays at all for the Padres this season. He will most likely be replaced by Gavin Sheets or Bryce Johnson, depending on circumstance. The Padres have both Luis Campusano and Tirso Ornelas on their 40-man roster, but it is unlikely they will promote either of them unless they feel they need an emergency backup.
By going 4-2 during the week, the Padres improved their overall record to 87-72. They sit second in the NL West behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have clinched the division again. There is no doubt that with improved play over the past month the Padres could have overtaken the Dodgers. Home field advantage and a first-round bye were within their reach, but there is no crying over spilt milk. The Friars are in the Wild Card playoffs.
With their 178 victories over the past two years guaranteed, the Padres have set a new record for most team victories in a tw0-year period in their history.
Hitters do enough
Utility infielder Jose Iglesias didn’t play a lot, but he made it count, hitting .571 in seven at-bats with two homeruns and two RBI. Ryan O’Hearn helped out in the outfield, as well as playing first base and DH for the Padres, since being acquired at the deadline. He came out of his recent slump with a .500 average and 1.187 OPS in 24 at-bats with a double, a homer and eight RBI. Jackson Merrill has come alive at the right time. He is hitting .333 with a 1.078 for the week with two doubles, two homers and two RBI. Luis Arraez is also picking it up at the right time and has a .304 average with a .820 OPS with a homer and five RBI for the week.
Manny Machado continues his struggles at the plate. He is hitting .095 in 21 at-bats with two hits and an RBI. He has nine strikeouts for the week, including four in the last game against Milwaukee. In his last 48 games (since Aug. 1), Machado has a .206 average and .598 OPS with six doubles, six home runs and 51 strikeouts.
The Padres gave Machado an off day before their last team off day, but that does not seem to have helped get him out of his doldrums. For the team to do any damage in the playoffs, Manny has to be Manny.
Pitchers are rebounding
All of the starters did their jobs to varying degrees this past week. Dylan Cease had two starts and went 11 innings with 10 hits and five runs allowed, but kept the team in the game, although they lost both of his starts.
Randy Vasquez surprised many with his stellar start against Milwaukee, going seven innings with one hit and no runs allowed. He had three strikeouts and two walks. He threw 98 pitches and lowered his ERA to 3.70, second to Nick Pivetta’s 2.87 for starters with more than 100 innings pitched.
With Yu Darvish scheduled to start the first game of the last series of the season against the D-backs, we can expect to see Michael King in the second game and TBD in the finale on Sunday. Rest assured it will not be Nick Pivetta. He has already been named to start the first game of the Wild Card playoff series against the Chicago Cubs.
King looked a lot more like himself in his start this past week. He completed five innings with four hits and no runs and got his pitch count up to 70 in preparation for his last start before the playoffs (Saturday).
The bullpen continued their excellent work, despite both Adrian Morejon and Jeremiah Estrada having slight blips in their performance. The bullpen has a 3.05 ERA for the season and still holds the top spot in MLB. The Cleveland Guardians sit second with a 3.45 ERA.
Overall, the Padres pitching staff has a 3.64 ERA, third in baseball, slightly behind the Brewers 3.61.
Roster moves and injuries
Utility player Will Wagner was sent to Arizona (technically they are optioned to the ACL even though the ACL is not currently playing) and Xander Bogaerts returned from his broken foot on Sept. 23.
Ron Marinaccio was also sent to Arizona when David Morgan returned from his shoulder soreness on Sept. 24.
Laureano has not been placed on the IL yet. It is possible there is no player they wish to call up so they could just ride with what they have. Ornelas and Campusano could be available for an emergency.
Nestor Cortes and JP Sears are both getting work in Arizona should one of them be called up to start on Sunday for the last regular season game against the D-backs.
- This article was written prior to the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday.
