My wretched hometown San Diego Padres have limped into the seasonal All-Star break with a terrible 'first half' now complete accentuated by Sunday afternoon's July 13th pounding by the Atlanta Braves ending in a score of 12 - 3.
Actually, with a record of 37 wins and 58 losses, a winning percentage of a paltry .389, nearly 60% of the season is over. Any hope of a late season recovery is only a distant dream. And to think, they were highly touted at the beginning of the year to again compete, if not win, in their division. But that was then and this is now. What a difference a few games make - fifty eight losing games.
The Padres are fortunate to play in the worst division in baseball, the National League West, where not one team is above the .500 winning percentage mark. Even with their miserable showing in the first 95 games, they are only ten games behind the first place Arizona Diamondbacks. Miracles can and do happen, but the odds are not in the Padres favor.
What has been their downfall? Remember, only last year they battled to nearly the last game for the NL West Division Championship having won two straight titles in '05 and '06. The answer: hitting for the most part. Better yet, the lack thereof. The hapless Pads cannot hit the baseball anymore although they never were - not since the '98 team - a power club. This year's club has been pathetic on offense: too many strikeouts chasing bad pitches clearly out of the strike zone, too much hitting into double plays, too many fly ball outs swinging for the fences, and far too many wimpy infield hits for easy outs. In the first 95 games, the Padres scored 2 or less runs forty times - and lost 34 of those! They simply can't advance runners and drive in runs with men on base. That fact is a mystery to many in the game. (Note: The Padres did set a major league record this year when they won four straight games with a score of 2 to 1 from June 4th to the 7th!)
Anemic hitting is a factor, but the bullpen meltdown is also a problem. The relief pitching has not been as sharp whereas in previous years it was a San Diego strong point. In fact, in 2007 it was the best in the major leagues. With the exception of Heath Bell, the other relievers have faltered or been injured. Their bullpen ERA of 4.27 ranks them 13th in the National League - far from past years. The Padre starting pitchers go to the mound with the thought in their mind that they have to strike opposing batters out. They baseball and rightly so, that there will be few runs scored offensively as a cushion for them and they have doubts about their bullpen saving the day.
What has led to this precipitous fall? A combination of factors not all of which were their doing. baseball an example, Chris Young, one of their star pitchers, was hit smack in the face by a line drive breaking his face, nose and skull. He has been out for an extended period. Their catchers have been on the disabled list for more than half the season. Injuries are part of baseball and every team suffers them. But how often does your catcher foul a ball off his bat onto his nose? Khalil Green, perhaps one of the better defensive shortstops in the game and who had a dynamite year in 2007, is barely batting over .200 at the plate this year at a time when they desperately need his bat to get hot.
Off season mistakes contributed. Signing Jim Edmunds to play center field was a mistake - a $4.25 million blunder which the team ate. He barely hit .200 and age clearly had caught up with him trying to play the expansive outfield at PETCO Park. Letting a fine utility player, Geoff Blum, leave by not offering him a contract even though he had been a proven and relatively inexpensive asset in past years, was a major gaff in that Blum could play several positions, hit well in a pinch situation, and was a clubhouse motivator. Not resigning him was a shortsighted mistake. There were other gaffs made which have contributed to the current dilemma, some avoidable and some not.
Not all is gloom and doom. At least Adrian Gonzales, their hometown first baseman, has been selected to the National League All-Star team - the only Padre going this year. And, in a heart warming gift of happenstance, his older brother Edgar, a nine year veteran of the minor leagues, is now playing second base for the Padres and doing a fine job - especially in hitting.
More positive in nature, if you look closely enough, is that several of the minor league players elevated to the majors are showing promise for the future. Chase Headley seems to be fulfilling expectations and shows flashes of future stardom. Several trades have panned out well. The Padres are fielding a young team these days unlike in previous years. There is hope for the future although the dream of success in 2008 - which was expected in April - has faded and may have eluded the team for this season. As the old Padre mantra went: "Keep The Faith!"
I'm trying - "GO PAD'S!"
Major Dennis Copson is retired from The United States Marines and is a resident of Oceanside, CA where he is the Director of Sales and Marketimg for Nature's Big Bud Worm Castings, Inc. He is also a freelance writer. More info is available on his website http://www.naturesbigbud.com
No comments:
Post a Comment