This is not what Padres fans expected when the season began. The Padres are sitting with a 45-39 record, out of the Wild Card race by a game and the offense has been boring and underperforming for at least the past 45 games. For their last 42 games they are six games under .500 (18-24) and rank in the bottom 10 in most offensive categories.
Watching this team on most days is a lesson in patience. Patiently waiting for them to score runs while the pitching staff works hard to keep the other team off the board. Putting this kind of pressure on the pitchers is a recipe for disaster and is not a sustainable situation.
Black holes on offense
Not only has the team not had significant contributions from two positions for most of the season, the highly-compensated core has not produced consistently. Outside of Manny Machado, who is also struggling the last couple weeks, the stars of this team are not carrying their weight. The numbers have been written over and over again for the past month and a half. It’s depressing to keep reporting them.
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Many fan bases would be thrilled to be six games over .500 and a game out of the playoff race. Why are we feeling discouraged?
This team was supposed to be better than this. All teams experience slumps and losing streaks but to have the offense be this bad for this long is a real concern. What happened to the guys who hit so well last season? They took advantage of opportunities, didn’t make stupid mistakes and were able to come back after falling behind.
If you consider that Gavin Sheets has ably filled in at DH and left field when needed for last year’s star Jurickson Profar, the catching position is the black hole. There is also a significant lack of production from the bench as compared to last year. Does that explain a team that ranks 27th in the league in hitting with runners in scoring position?
Manager Mike Shildt repeatedly has said the organization expects only defensive competence and pitcher handling from their catchers. The time has come to stop having such low expectations from the bottom of the lineup.
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Decision time has come
General manager AJ Preller and the front office has to make a decision. Either they make moves to improve this team or start trading away the impending free agents, reduce the payroll and begin planning for next year.
The trade deadline is this month. The contending teams will be competing for the available trade pieces on the market and the Padres minor league system is not particularly well-thought of outside the organization. Does Preller have enough between the pitching prospects in the system or the bullpen arms that can be dangled as trade bait to acquire a right-handed hitting left fielder, a catcher and a bench bat?
These are tough questions that will be answered in the next month. It is obvious this team can’t stand pat. They aren’t good enough. Starting pitching could get better if Yu Darvish and/or Michael King are available in the second half. Dylan Cease has to stop doing his on-again, off-again pitching. With Randy Vasquez, Matt Waldron, Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert available to round out the rotation, the real need rests with the bats. The bullpen has consistently been one of the best in baseball and there are more quality arms in the minors to back them up.
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We have seen Preller swing amazing deals over the years. If he can do so again this year and markedly improve this offense, then his job could be secure for years. The free spending of the past is not something this team can do considering the limitations in potential income. But, incremental improvements to this roster could make a difference.
If Preller can’t accomplish that, then Cease, Luis Arraez and Robert Suarez should be the first to go but Michael King is probably not a trade chip with his shoulder injury. I definitely hope it doesn’t come to that but without reinforcements this team doesn’t have enough to make a real run through the playoffs.
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