The San Diego Padres began their post-deadline season with new players and a home series against the St Louis Cardinals. The Friars took two-of-three and got another stellar performance from starter Nick Pivetta, who went seven innings, while allowing only one run to improve his ERA to 2.73.
Newcomer Mason Miller jumped right into the fray on Aug. 1, pitching an inning, and didn’t allow a run. Randy Vasquez had his worst outing of the season in the loss of the second game. He allowed five runs and eight hits over four innings and increased his ERA to 3.93.
The Padres salvaged the series with a good start by Dylan Cease (5 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs) and another great effort from the bullpen. Jackson Merrill hit a bases clearing triple for three RBI. Robert Suarez secured his MLB-leading 32nd save.
The team then headed to Arizona for a three-game series versus the Dbacks, taking two-of-three with continued excellent production up and down the lineup. The bump in the road was the loss in the first game when new starter JP Sears got knocked around for 10 hits and 5 runs in his 5 innings pitched. The offense was stymied by Dbacks starter Brandon Pfaadt and were also unable to break through against the bullpen for Arizona.
Otherwise, it was a fun series for the Friars.
Both Randy Vasquez and JP Sears were sent down to Triple-A El Paso after their starts and the Padres activated new starter Nestor Cortes from the IL and called up reliever Sean Reynolds.
The 4-2 record for the week gave them a 64-51 record for the season. They now sit in second position in the Wild Card standings, a game up on the Mets and 2.5 games behind the Cubs. They are also only two games behind the LA Dodgers for the division lead.
As a team, the Padres have made significant improvements over the past month and the additions at the trade deadline only emphasized how much the lineup needed to be lengthened. With left fielder Ramón Laureano, catcher Freddy Fermin and DH/1B/OF Ryan O’Hearn added to roster, the Padres now have a legitimate threat coming from every slot in the batting order.
It also gives them Jose Iglesias, Gavin Sheets and Bryce Johnson as offensive and defensive weapons off the bench, when they aren’t starting. The result of AJ Preller’s work is an offense that hit .262 with a .757 OPS for the week. They averaged 5.2 runs per game over that span. The .250 average and 4.1 runs per game for the previous 109 games kept them in the wild card race and in second place in the NL West. The division title is legitimately in their reach and the improved production makes them much more dangerous.
Ramón Laureano leads the team with a 1.024 OPS for the week while Freddy Fermin is tops with a .438 average. Jackson Merrill has 8 RBI for the week and Xander Bogaerts has hit two home runs over the same period.
The Friars’ relievers continue to lead baseball with a 2.99 ERA for the season. The team ERA of 3.58 ranks second overall in baseball. Jason Adam has the lowest ERA for the bullpen at 1.78 and Nick Pivetta continues to lead the starters with a 2.73 ERA.
Injuries and roster changes
Both Tyler Wade and Martin Maldonado were DFA’d after the deadline. Both cleared waivers and Wade accepted an assignment to Triple-A. Maldonado was released after he refused the demotion.
On Aug. 2, AJ Preller made a trade with the Pirates for minor league catcher Eli Wilson and he was assigned to San Antonio.
Randy Vasquez and JP Sears were sent to Triple-A El Paso.
Trenton Brooks was outrighted to El Paso.
It was announced that Michael King will start for the Padres against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, returning to the team after being placed on the IL in May.
Joe Musgrove has begun twice-a-week bullpen sessions that will take place on Tuesdays and Saturdays. He will slowly increase quantity of pitches and intensity over the next couple months.