It’s hopeful we can call this the low point to the season and that this is where it stops. With their starting pitchers struggling to get out of the fourth inning and the offense in a hole before they can get started in most of the games, the San Diego Padres went 1-5 for the past week. Their overall record stands at 76-64 and they remain in competition for the NL West while holding on to their Wild Card spot by one game.
Taking one game from the Minnesota Twins on the road and being swept at home
by the Baltimore Orioles, the Padres did not play good baseball and saw their MLB best bullpen severely taxed, while trying to bail out the team. The bullpen remains the tops in baseball with a 3.07 ERA, but the starters sit 15th with a 4.12 ERA for the season. In the nine games since the end of the Dodgers series, the starters have averaged 3.2 innings per start and have a 7.52 ERA.
Outfielder Ramón Laureano continues his sweltering streak of success. Since joining the Padres (31 games), Laureano has a .322/.376/.574 line with seven home runs and 24 RBI. He has also played stellar defense in both left and center field. In the recent power rankings for MLB, he is listed at No. 6.
Gavin Sheets has extended his hot streak as well, hitting .368 for the week with a .903 OPS, while not playing every day. Both Manny Machado (.182/.568 OPS) and Fernando Tatis Jr (.200/.654 OPS) are mired in hitting slumps.
The Immaculate Inning
Reliever Mason Miller gave the Friar Faithful something to cheer about in the last game of the home series versus the Orioles. Pitching the eighth inning in the 7-5 loss, Miller threw the second immaculate inning in Padres history. Striking out the side with nine sliders in a row, Miller threw nine pitches for three outs and joins former Padre Brian Lawrence (2002) as the only Friar to accomplish the feat. The immaculate inning is the reliever version of a no-hitter and is even more rare. There have been 118 immaculate innings in major league history compared to 326 no-hitters. The rarest feat in baseball is the perfect game- there have been 24 in MLB history.
Roster changes and injury updates
Michael King was at the Peoria Sports Complex in Arizona yesterday and threw a 62 pitch, five inning effort according to an update by manager Mike Shildt on the Ben & Woods program (97.3 FM) Friday morning. Depending on how he recovers from that effort, a return to the Padres rotation could be this next homestead.
Shortstop Xander Bogaerts went on the IL with a fractured foot after fouling a ball off himself. He will be out for the rest of the regular season, but could be eligible in October. He was replaced on the roster by Mason McCoy.
Kyle Hart, who has been working as a reliever recently, was called up Aug. 31 and Alek Jacob was sent to El Paso
Catcher Martin Maldonado, who was released by the Padres at the trade deadline, signed a minor league deal.
Sean Reynolds was brought up and Jackson Merrill was activated off the IL on Sept. 1. These players served to fill the two extra roster spots allowed.
Jason Adam ruptured his left quadriceps tendon on Sept. 1, while trying to lunge for a liner hit past him. The injury was confirmed by MRI the following day. Adam was placed on the IL and underwent surgery on Sept. 3 recovery is six to nine months. Alek Jacob returned from El Paso to fill the bullpen spot.
- This article was written prior to the Padres’ 3-0 loss to the Rockies, Friday
