He’s the son of baseball royalty. His father would play twenty seasons, capture eight batting titles and lead the Padres to a pair of World Series appearances. Tony Gwynn Jr. joins us today exclusively at The Crawfish Boxes to preview the Astros upcoming series in San Diego. Gwynn serves as color commentator for Padres baseball.
Q: Do you personally relate to a guy like Fernando Tatis Jr., who’s also following in his dad’s footsteps with his baseball career?
A: In some ways yes and some ways no. We
both grew up following the path of our fathers, so from that standpoint, I definitely can relate. The pressures of following a Hall of Fame father are tough no doubt. That being said, I would say that having the responsibility of being the savior of an organization and having to live up to those expectations or something I never had to do.
Q: Is Tatis the future of Padres baseball?
A: I believe Tatis is the future of this organization. I think Jackson Merrill’s right behind him. Those two guys will lead this organization when Manny Machado’s time is done.
Q: Your dad never struck out more than 40 times in a season. All these years later, he has so many stats, but that one is just crazy to think about. Which of his numbers do you feel is indicative of his legacy?
A: Yeah, my pops accumulated some crazy numbers in his career. My favorite is he could go basically 1000 at bats without a hit and still be a lifetime .300 hitter. That’s what hitting .338 for a career can do!
Q: How good is Mason Miller’s stuff? Give Astros fans an idea of what he’s doing closing out games.
A: Mason Miller is having a tremendous year. He was 26 of 26 before blowing the save last Friday. In that game the Padres asked him for five outs. Outside of that one instance, he’s been flawless. You’re looking at 103 mph fastball, but his equalizer is the slider which is probably one of the toughest pitches to hit baseball.
Q: We saw Jeremiah Estrada activated from the IL. How crucial will he be for this club to remain in the thick of the wild card race the final several weeks of the season?
A: Jeremiah will be extremely crucial down the stretch as will getting Jason Adam back sometime in September. The padres expect to get David Morgan back before the end of the year as well. All three of these guys will factor into this bullpen and will be a huge help once they get healthy.
Q: Craig Stammen took over in November. What grade would you give him in his first regular season at the helm?
A: I would give Craig Stammen a B grade. If he had his players perform better in the first half, this grade would probably be higher. I think as a first-year manager, no matter who it is, there’s going to be some misses along the way. Despite this team not performing well offensively and having a ton of injuries to rotation and the bullpen, he’s helped keep this team close in the wildcard standings and they’ve started to play a lot better.
