Good morning,
Even while losing ground as if on a treadmill going backward over the past week or so, Padres players continued to talk about the benefit of having so many games remaining against the teams in front of them in the standings.
That seemed somewhat delusional, as the Giants and Dodgers are playing on a different plane and the National League West crown has almost assuredly been out of the Padres’ reach for some time.
Now, it’s no longer even accurate that the teams they are chasing are all on their schedule.
Because one of the teams ahead of them is the Cincinnati Reds, and the Padres don’t play them again.
For the first time since April 21, the Reds lead the Padres in the wild card standings.
That came to be Sunday after the Padres lost for the ninth time in 11 games (game story here) while the Reds completed a four-game sweep of the Miami Marlins.
At least there is no longer any need for the Padres to look over their shoulders.
Here is what lies ahead for both teams in their final 36 games:
As if it matters with the Padres this year, given their penchant for playing up and down to the competition, but the Reds would seem to have the easier road. They play 14 games against opponents with winning records, while the Padres play 19 games against the teams with the top two records in the major leagues and another 10 games (including the resumption of a suspended game against the Braves) against winning teams.
Weather without Weathers?
Rookie Ryan Weathers continued a remarkable slide yesterday.
Pitching out for the bullpen for the first time since mid-June, he threw a scoreless inning and then surrendered three runs in his second inning. In his past five games, he has yielded 28 runs in 17 2/3 innings — nine more runs than he allowed in his first 62 2/3 innings this season.
Bryce Miller wrote a column after yesterday’s game saying however the Padres handle the 21-year-old Weathers the rest of 2021, it can’t be to keep throwing him out there.
They may not have to, at least for a time.
The Padres play just 13 games in the next 18 days.
They play those games in stretches of five, three, three and two at a time. With Yu Darvish (back) expected back this week and Jake Arrieta (hamstring) and Chris Paddack (oblique) perhaps as soon as the following week, the Padres should not need Weathers to start again.
The Padres likely will be throwing two bullpen games this week — with Tuesday and Saturday as the leading candidates — so Weathers’ ability to throw multiple innings would be valued in one of those or in a game between those days. But that might not be necessary.
Perhaps the only positive development yesterday was that the large deficit the Padres faced allowed a reset for their back-end relievers. The Padres used Craig Stammen (two scoreless innings), Weathers (three runs in two innings), Miguel Díaz (four runs in three innings) and Reiss Knehr (two scoreless innings) yesterday.
That means Austin Adams, Nabil Crismatt, Tim Hill, Daniel Hudson, Mark Melancon and Emilio Pagán will have two days down and Pierce Johnson will have three before tomorrow’s series opener against the Dodgers.
The Padres’ bullpen is dragging. Relievers have covered 68 1/3 of the Padres’ past 103 innings, with one day off during the 12-game period that encompasses.
I recently asked Melancon, the 13-year veteran who leads the majors with 34 saves, what was most important for this group of relievers to do to be able to continue thriving, since it seems it will go on being used as much as any bullpen in the majors. My question was met with a pause of several seconds.
“I’ve got a lot to say,” he finally said. “But I’m not going to say it.”
I asked if this level of usage was sustainable for a pennant-chasing team.
After another pause, Melancon said, “Looks like we’ll find out.”
Tidbits
- The Phillies’ Rhys Hoskins has nine career two-homer games. Two of those have come against the Padres, including yesterday.
- Jake Cronenworth was 2-for-4 yesterday for his team-leading 35th multi-hit game. He was the only Padres player with more than one hit. They are 48-20 when at least two players get multiple hits in a game and 20-38 when that doesn’t happen.
- Eric Hosmer walked and doubled yesterday and is batting .324 with an .880 OPS in 45 games since June 29. That is the highest average and second-highest OPS on the team in that span. He has raised his season average to .277 and season OPS to .743, which rank third and seventh, respectively, on the team.
- Austin Nola hit a pinch-hit three-run double in the ninth inning and is 2-for-3 as a pinch-hitter this season. He has 23 RBIs in just 106 at-bats and is 16-for-33 (.485) with runners in scoring position.
- The crowd of 38,548 yesterday was the 14th one at least that large in the 32 games this season in which full capacity has been allowed at Petco Park. That is one more than the number of crowds that large in 81 home games in 2019.
All right, that’s enough for today.
No newsletter tomorrow, but there will be a story on the Padres page advancing the Dodgers series.
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August 23, 2021 at 08:30PM
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Padres Daily: All in front of them now; off days provide options - The San Diego Union-Tribune
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