Padres get back to winning

The San Diego Padres broke their six-game losing streak with a home series win versus the Atlanta Braves and followed it with a series win against the Miami Marlins. The two losses occurred in the bullpen game against Atlanta and the game Kyle Hart started after being called back up from El Paso. Michael King was unable to make his start against the Braves due to a shoulder issue and the bullpen was taxed unexpectedly.

It was a good step in the right direction for a team that had shown real struggles getting their offense going in second half of May. The four wins out of six games resulted in an overall 31-23 record for the Padres and they reclaimed their hold on second place in the NL West after slipping into third during their losing streak. The San Francisco Giants trail them by a game.

Manny Machado steps up

After having a power outage for most of the start of the season, Machado has three home runs over the last two series and is now at six for the season. To compare to last season, Machado had five homers over the first 51 games last season and still finished with 29. He historically goes on power streaks, especially after the summer gets going. He has four RBI over the two series. He is the only player in MLB to hit 28 or more home runs in each of the past nine seasons. He also played his 861st game for the Padres which passed his number of games played as a Baltimore Oriole.

Gavin Sheets is the man

Sheets has become the regular DH, even at times against left-handed pitching, and powered a home run against Cy Young winner Chris Sale to increase his chances of playing every day. He is second on the team to Fernando Tatis Jr. with 11 homers and leads the team with 34 RBI (5 in the past week). He is carrying a .843 OPS for the season.

With left field being a black hole offensively for the team, Sheets will also be sharing time with Tyler Wade and Brandon Lockridge in left. He also relieves Luis Arraez at first base. Hopefully, his versatility will keep his hot bat in the lineup.

Xander Bogaerts had a good week

Bogaerts hasn’t been the offensive weapon the Padres had hoped for when signing him to a 11-year, $280 million deal in 2022. His HR power (33 over 2+ seasons), OPS (has not hit .800 yet), and RBI’s (topped out at 58 his first season) are all inadequate for the player the team expected. He hit .350 with a .759 OPS during the last week. His season OBP is .335 and he has 21 RBI at the 1/3 mark of the season. His defense is also playing at above league average so far this year. All positive signs that Bogaerts is benefitting from a healthy season.

Stephen Kolek’s milestone

Kolek has had five starts since being brought up to the rotation from the minors. He has a 3-1 record with 4.11 ERA in a total of 30.2 innings pitched. All very respectable for a first time starter in the major leagues. In his fifth start of the season, Kolek had a terrible first inning against Miami on Tuesday. The Marlins scored 6 runs on hard-hit grounders that all exceeded 101 mph. Reliever Omar Cruz was warming in the bullpen when Kolek got the third out after five hits, a sacrifice, walk and fielders choice gave Miami their six runs.

He then went on to pitch 4.1 scoreless innings only allowing one more hit. His offense rallied for eight runs before his exit and he won the game. He is the first pitcher since 1999 to allow six runs in the first inning and still get a win.

Left Field stats

The Padres left fielders have a cumulative .185 average and a .500 OPS for the season. It is glaringly obvious that the Jason Heyward deal has not worked for the team offensively. With Heyward on the IL for the foreseeable future with an oblique strain, the Padres’ general manager, A.J. Preller, must find a replacement. The timing may not be great as the Padres prospect capital below Ethan Salas and Leo De Vries is not highly valued around the league. There are some early season successes in the minors but the challenge remains to find quality for left field with a depleted minor league system.

Roster changes

Luis Campusano was called up again when Heyward was placed on the IL, and has only been the right-handed DH so far with no hits, two walks and five strikeouts over the past week.

Michael King was placed on the IL with a shoulder issue and David Morgan was recalled from El Paso. He has subsequently pitched 1.2 innings with 1 earned run. Alek Jacob was sent to El Paso after the bullpen game caused by King’s injury and Omar Cruz was called up. Cruz was sent back to El Paso when Kyle Hart was called up to pitch versus Miami.

Injury Updates

Yu Darvish continues to throw on flat ground after experiencing tightness in his arm after his last rehab start. Manager Mike Shildt provided an update today on Ben and Woods, saying he’s playing catch more aggressively and it’s a matter of Darvish being able to recover and go every fifth or sixth day. There has been no report of any structural damage.

Matt Waldron and Bryan Hoeing are both in El Paso for the last steps of their rehab assignments. No word yet on when either will be activated.

Michael King’s injury evaluation showed no shoulder injury per manager Mike Shildt in his morning interview on 97.3 The Fan on Friday. It is a nerve issue and is being treated but there is no timeline at this point for how long he will be on the IL.

Padres get back to winning

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