I sat in front of his locker late Monday night and evaluated the San Diego Padres in the wake of his extra defeat. He didn’t have much to say, but he didn’t have to say much.
“We can still play better,” he said. “It’s that easy.”
Tatis reached base three times on Monday, but his OPS is 78 points below his career average. The Padres dropped a one-run run on the highly anticipated opener of the Season Series series, but their most productive and healthy starting pitchers were hit hard.
But in the end (37-28) woke up nine games above .500 on Tuesday, and two games from number one. At this point last season, the Padres were one game under .500, with eight games from 1st place.
The Padres came in one game to get together to win a postseason spot and eliminate the Dodgers in the first round of the playoffs. Then it was winter and the Padres entered hibernation as the Dodgers signed most of the free world.
The Padres did not win in the winter by choice. Not particularly after the Dodgers brought the Championship trophy home, as no one could beat LA in October.
There was a preseason fanfest in San Diego. it was .
“We don’t think it’s bad ever,” Padres Pitcher said. “People see the addition of celebrities for a lot of money and think it’s directly correlated with their ability to win.”
That applies to fans too. For major league owners operating in far fewer markets than San Diego, this still applies to Truer. The Padres won a playoff payoff last season, selling out 27 of their 31 home dates so far this season.
“I don’t think it’s wrong for fans to feel how they felt,” Musgrove said. “It’s a natural, knee-like response to seeing everyone move, and you don’t move.”
The Padres were defeated over the winter, with Juricson Profar and Ha So Kim. They lost Juan Soto, Blake Snell and Josh Hader the previous winter.
That will scare the fan base.
The Padres traded Soto and acquired two New York Yankees bailouts, Michael King and Randy Vasquez. The Padres replaced outfielder Soto with minor league shortstop Jackson Merrill, who should have been the NL Rookie of the Year.
When they traded for him, they didn’t use Scott as a closer one. Robert Suarez closed at the time and is now closed. Gavin Sheet, who has signed a minor league contract, has 11 home runs more than anyone on the team other than Tatis.
The top four batters in the San Diego lineup, Tatis, Louis Arez, Manny Machado and Merrill, can hold themselves up against the Dodgers quartet.
Utilityman Tyler Wade scoffed at the winter notion that the Padres might not be able to carry this season either.
“Looking around our room, man,” Wade said. “We have a very talented bunch. We basically have the same team as last year. Obviously we’re subtracting some important pieces.”
There is a negative war in the Padres catchers. So did their left fielder, their .248-on-base percentage being the lowest of the team’s left fielder.
Angels’ Taylor Ward is perfect here. AJ Preller, president of the Padres baseball business, is a rare executive who trades real prospects. He will make the Padres better in the seven weeks between now and the trading deadline.
Musgrove said: “The people in this room are very confident in their staff and we believe AJ needs to have the right products and adjust them all year round as they need them.”
What distinguishes the Padres from the Dodgers this season and vice versa, is how many starting pitchers will return from the injured list, and how effective they are.
The Dodgers have Snell, Lokisasaki, Tyler Grasnow and Tony Gonsorin on their injured list. The Padres have King, Musgrove and Yu Darvish on the injured list.
Darvish hasn’t pitched yet this season, but has resumed throwing bullpen sessions. King is expected to miss out on weeks to pinch his nerves. Musgrove, who had Tommy John’s surgery last October, is not expected to re-enter this season’s rotation, but hopes that if the Padres get there, they will be able to pitch in the postseason with peace of mind.
The Dodgers’ bailouts threw the most innings in the league. Both the Dodgers and Padres starters rank in the top five in pitched innings. The rescuers on both teams pitch very well, but pitch too often.
Ultimately, the manager said “we’ll need some depth in the starter” to prevent the bullpen arm from getting injured or ineffective. (The manager was Mike Schilt of the Padres, but it could have been as easy as Dave Roberts of the Dodgers.)
And there’s a bit of wrinkles in all the hype and analysis surrounding the Dodgers and Padres. The Dodgers lead the NL West, but the second-placed team isn’t the Padres. It’s the San Francisco giant. Did someone mention a rivalry?
