An actual Padres winning streak!
The San Diego Padres have won four games in a row and seem ready to catch fire.
The San Diego Padres won their fourth consecutive game last night, out-dueling the Miami Marlins without the help of a starting pitcher. In fact, Craig Stammen got lit up to start the game and the team still put together enough of a fight with their offense and the rest of their bullpen to escape with a 6-5 win.
It is technically the first time the Padres have won four in a row since back-to-back home sweeps of the Reds and Dodgers at the end of June. However, if the Padres defeat the Braves in a continuation of their game of their July 21st game, it would somehow be marked down as four straight wins from then.
Technicalities aside, the Padres seem to be rounding into form and hoping to become the proverbial “team nobody wants to play in the playoffs”. Let’s dig a little deeper to see how this is happening without the help of Fernando Tatis Jr.
Pitching and defense!
After months of inconsistent pitching and defense, the Padres have found something that is working for them.
Let’s start with the defense…
Adam Frazier is as good as Jake Cronenworth at 2B, and Jake Cronenworth seems to be as good as Fernando Tatis Jr. at SS (what he lacks in the spectacular plays he makes up for by being rock-solid). Those two guys playing every day up the middle, eliminating the possibility of wayward throws from Tatis, has turned every groundball into a surefire out or two. It’s also taken some heat off of Hosmer’s defense.
The outfield of Pham-Grisham-Myers has gone back to playing every day, which is when the OF defense is at its best. When they try to shoehorn infielders into the outfield (Profar, Frazier, Mateo) is when things would occasionally go sideways for the Padres. They’re going to try it again, with Tatis, but his bat should make up for any mistakes he makes in the OF. Also, having Marisnick ready to go any time anyone needs a breather has been incredibly valuable.
And what can I say about the pitching that I haven’t already said? Preller called out his three prized starters and all of them have responded with quality starts since. That has taken some pressure off the bullpen, which has started performing better, and there are reserves on the way. Matt Strahm is already here, Daniel Hudson is joining the squad today, and Dinelson Lamet looks just about ready to do what he can to help in the late innings.
The Padres are still playing with 3.5 starting pitchers, and that’s a problem, but hopefully one that can be addressed when Chris Paddack returns from his injury.
The big trade deadline acquisition (from 2020)
Heading into the trade deadline, you would occasionally see a Padres beat reporter say that the team didn’t see a need to add more offense to the lineup. They were expecting Austin Nola back and that would be a boost to the offense, and one more guy they have to figure out playing time for, and that would be enough.
Since returning from injury, Nola is hitting .424/.459/.545, which makes him the best hitter on the team as long as Tatis is on the shelf. He hasn’t been able to catch every day, and he’s still wearing a huge knee brace, but the team is happy to have him batting at the MLB level as much as he is.
The trickle down effect
Nola and Adam Frazier, now the everyday starting 2B, have been real jolts to the offense. They’ve also taken a lot of pressure off other guys in the lineup, two of whom have seen positive effects as a result.
Trent Grisham has an OPS of 1.557 over the last week. His slump is over.
Eric Hosmer has an OPS of 1.085 since the trade deadline, when the Padres were offering teams some of their best prospects just to take him off their hands.
What’s next?
Well, today is a day game against the Marlins after a night game where the bullpen was blown out to make up for the lack of a starting pitcher.
The best case scenario is that Ryan Weathers gets some of whatever the other pitchers got going and pitches deep into this one, with Daniel Hudson and Emilio Pagan (the only two relievers who didn’t throw last night) finishing things off. The chances of that happening seem small, though.
Austin Nola will probably get the day off, too, after handling catching duties last night. that will be a ding to the offense, as Caratini hasn’t been anywhere close to the hitter that Nola is.
I expect Ha-Seong Kim and Jake Marisnick to find their way into the day-game lineup today, as well.
All of that is to say, this would be something of a scheduled loss except for the fact that the Padres are playing the very bad Miami Marlins. Even with a tired bullpen and the B lineup, the Padres still stand a good chance of winning this game at home.
Immediately following the game, the Padres will travel to Arizona and prepare for a four-game series against the Diamondbacks starting tomorrow. They’re 8-4 against the D’backs this season, and could stand to improve that record.
There’s a chance, albeit probably a small one, that the Padres roll off five more (or even eight more, with three in Colorado after the Diamondbacks series) wins in a row here and really make some noise. That should be what they aim for, and the closer they get to it, the better off they’ll be in the playoff chase.